Solar sail

Solar sails (also called light sails or photon sails) are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure (also called solar pressure) from stars to push large ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds. Light sails could also be driven by energy beams to extend their range of operations, which is strictly beam sailing rather than solar sailing.

Solar sail craft offer the possibility of low-cost operations combined with long operating lifetimes. Since they have few moving parts and use no propellant, they can potentially be used numerous times for delivery of payloads.

Solar sails use a phenomenon that has a proven, measured effect on spacecraft. Solar pressure affects all spacecraft, whether in interplanetary space or in orbit around a planet or small body. A typical spacecraft going to Mars, for example, will be displaced by thousands of kilometres by solar pressure, so the effects must be accounted for in trajectory planning, which has been done since the time of the earliest interplanetary spacecraft of the 1960s. Solar pressure also affects the attitude of a craft, a factor that must be included in spacecraft design.

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Solar Soul

by: Samael

Go if you want to know
What's behind those hills
Run if you want to catch
What's waiting there for you
Walk through another door
...on another floor
Learn how to get across
If you want to come through
Look for the missing link
Between your dreams
And reality
Find it, it is the key
Push aside yesterday
Push aside tomorrow
The only time is now
What we got is today
One nation-generation
Connecting people in a collective mind
Emergence - renaissance
The world is in your hands dont let it slip away
Ask and you're gonna get
Wait and you'll see
Lives more than we think
And way more than they say
Yes we do believe
There's no ending to
What we've started once
It will go on and on
Team up with the best
Trust in providence
...it will favour
Your undertakings
Push aside yesterday
Push aside tomorrow
The only time is now
What we got is today
One nation-generation
Connecting people in a collective mind
Emergence - renaissance




Latest News for: solar sail

Washington ranchers turn to new crop: Solar power

The Oregonian 10 Mar 2025
It would be one of Washington’s largest solar farms ... The Robert brothers say they don’t understand how the solar farm on their land would hurt anyone ... Jay Inslee and the state’s energy siting council, solar on the Roberts ranch sailed through.

DNV Maritime experts put green solutions under the microscope

SAFETY4SEA 07 Mar 2025
As stated in the report, energy use can also be reduced by harvesting energy from the surroundings, mainly sails and potentially solar panels to a much smaller degree ... sails and solar panels).

DNV highlights the importance of energy efficiency measures

SAFETY4SEA 05 Mar 2025
RelatedNews ... Beyond energy efficiency, energy use can also be reduced by harvesting energy from the surroundings, mainly sails and potentially solar panels to a much smaller degree ... Operational ... Propulsion and hull ... Machinery ... sails and solar panels) ... .
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