Individually, the energy of the particles emanating from the Sun is very small, but if they are captured on a large surface, they can provide propulsion in the same way as the wind on Earth – this is the basic principle of the solar sail, and the American space agency, NASA, is now testing this in action.
After the opening and closing tests of the sail were successfully completed on Earth in January, the device was launched into space on Tuesday, April 23. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) launched into space on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the company’s New Zealand launch site.
After Electron has successfully put ACS3 into orbit, it will open its four sails, made of polymer with a thickness of only 2.5 microns and the weight of a paper clip, with a side length of 9 meters each, at an altitude of 950 meters. An important part of the experiment is the testing of the linkage, NASA believes that the new composite material is light enough, but also resistant to twisting and bending under different temperature conditions.
This is what the device looks like before the sail is dismantled (Image: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart)
After successful opening, the sails can begin to capture the solar wind to give the spacecraft little by little momentum. The successful test paves the way for space travel without active propulsion in the distant future.
