NASA's going to test a solar sail spacecraft

[n2doc]

Sailing Ships in Space? Maybe.06.25.08



NanoSail-D is made of extremely lightweight gossamer fabric designed to glide into space. Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/D. Higginbotham


Picture it -- a sail boat floating across the starry sky. Well, it's not exactly what you'll see, but it is the idea behind NASA's newest experimental mission.

Later this summer NASA will attempt to deploy and operate the first spacecraft in low Earth orbit propelled only by the power of sunlight. Solar sail propulsion uses sunlight to propel vehicles through space, much the way the wind pushes a sailboat through water. The technology requires intercepting the constantly streaming solar energy, called photons, with giant, reflective sails of lightweight material. Over time, the continuous pressure of the sun's light provides sufficient thrust for a small spacecraft to travel in space and alter its orbit.

Sounds easy, right? On Earth, solar cells have been turning sunlight into electricity for centuries, so why hasn't the space community succeeded in using solar power for in-space transportation?

Although the idea of "sailing" through space has been around since the 17th century, it's never quite come together. Both visionary astronomer Johannes Kepler and Russian space pioneer Friederich Tsander proposed the concept of sailing though space using only the force provided by the energy in sunlight. But at the time, materials strong, thin and durable enough to withstand the harsh radiation environment of space didn’t exist.

Solar sail propulsion continued to captivate engineers in modern space history, and in recent years, several advances have been made toward testing and deploying solar sails on Earth and in low-Earth orbit by the space agencies of the U.S., Germany and Japan. In 2005, the nonprofit space advocacy organization The Planetary Society, launched Cosmos-1 into space on a Russian Volna rocket, but unfortunately the first stage of the launch vehicle never completed its scheduled burn, and never had a chance to deploy and demonstrate solar sail propulsion technology.

Still, a solar sail has yet to be successfully deployed in space.

more:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/nanosail_feature.html

small, cheap, worth trying out...

[Indenturedebtor]

1. Why not. Looks like they made the thing out of Glad Bags and Coat Hangers lol n/t

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

2. It's already been done

Tom Swift and his Cosmic Astronauts

A solution to the prohibitive cost of producing vehicles for further space explorations is Tom Swift Jr.'s new goal. But the success of the young scientist-inventor's project is threatened by the wily Li Ching, a renegade scientist. Banished from his native land because of rebellious acts, Li Ching is now the leader of a ruthless group intent on pirating scientific secrets.
. . .

Despite the ever-present threats of sabotage and piracy, Tom and his friend Bud Barclay are soon taking Tom's latest invention, the Space Kite -- a two-man craft for training future space pilots -- on its test flight. The experiment turns into a harrowing experience when the boys are nearly marooned in outer space.

Undaunted by the failure of the Space Kite, Tom quickly discovers the defect and decides to build a larger craft, the Cosmic Sailer. Certain that he has found the key to economical space explorations, the young inventor still has to conquer the sinister forces working against him. How Tom and the Cosmic Astronauts meet this challenge will keep the reader taut with suspense.

http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/cosmic.html