solar sail
spacecraft propulsion
Quick Summary
A solar sail is a spacecraft propulsion device that uses the pressure of sunlight to move. It consists of a large, flat sheet of material, such as aluminized plastic, designed to catch solar radiation. This method of propulsion is distinct from harvesting energy from the solar wind, which involves large hypothetical satellites designed to capture charged particles from the Sun. Solar sails, first used in 1958, rely on the momentum of photons from the Sun to generate thrust.12
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