Japan to launch cleantech space yacht satellite propelled by solar sail
Post date: May 1, 2010 7:03:00 AM
Ikaros
Japan is to launch a "space yacht"
propelled by solar particles
that bounce off its kite-shaped sails,
the country's space agency said
source: physorg.com
It is a hybrid technology of electricity and pressure',
Space yacht will be first craft to travel on 'solar waves' as it sets sail for Venus
A rocket carrying the Japanese craft will blast off from Tanegashima
Space Center on May 18. Once in space the short cylindrical pod
will separate from the rocket spinning up to 20 times a minute.
This will help it to unfold its flexible 46ft sail, which is thinner than
a human hair.
The square shaped sail is equipped with thin-film solar cells and
will use resistance created by the Sun's energy in much the same
way as wind propels a yacht through water. This will provide it with
enough thrust to hover and rotate.
'It is a hybrid technology of electricity and pressure', Japanese
Space Agency expert Yuichi Tsuda said. 'Solar sails are the
technology that realises space travel without fuel as long as we
have sunlight. The availability of electricity would enable us to
navigate farther and more effectively in the solar system.'
source: dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech