Apr 24, 2024
World’s most advanced solar sail rockets into space
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: satellites
The world’s most advanced solar sail spacecraft began its odyssey today at 23:32 GMT as it lifted off atop a Rocket Lab Electron launcher from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. It was one of two payloads on the Beginning Of The Swarm mission.
Though it’s only the size of a microwave oven, NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) can unfurl a microscopically thin plastic sail in about 25 minutes to cover an area of 860 ft² (80 m²) with a boom unfolding from the size of a hand to 23-ft (7-m) long. It’s not the first solar sail to be sent into space, but its boom made of lightweight polymer composites and specially configured to stow flat is a major step in making such sails lighter and more stable.
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