NASA/L’Garde
A
64.5-foot-wide test version of the Sunjammer solar sail sits unfurled
in a large vacuum chamber during tests at NASA’s Plum Brook facility in
Ohio.
Slated for launch in 2017, the full-size 124-foot-wide
version will be the largest orbiting solar sail ever, employing 13,000
square feet of thin Kapton film to harness the weak but constant force
of solar photons. Movable vanes at the sail’s four corners act like
rudders so operators can help it achieve and maintain a gravitationally
stable solar orbit. Despite its size, the sail weighs just 70 pounds and
will carry scientific instruments to observe space weather.
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