Space Sailboat

2004/08/13 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronautika

When sunlight strikes these candles, each photon brings a small amount of energy to the candle and pushes the sailboat away from the Sun. Although the energy used is low, the sailboat can reach a high speed, since there is no spatial friction.

The Japanese Space Agency sent the two ships on August 9 with the help of a small rocket. After 100 seconds after its launch, the rocket was 122 kilometers away, when it released the first sailboat. The first managed to expand the candles and thus made about 10 meters. He released the second sailboat at a height of 169 kilometers. Then they got into the Earth's atmosphere and burned through it.

The manufacture of this type of sailboats is not easy, on the one hand the candles must have a large surface and at the same time the container must be light. In addition, to avoid the influence of the Earth's atmosphere, scientists believe that they should be carried much further, at least 1000 kilometers from the Earth's surface.

To learn more:
Planetary Society: Solar Sail
Solar Sails