NASA is launching a new kind of sail into space. It moves forward using the energy of sunlight to navigate without a motor and therefore (almost) without the need for fuel.
Always further, always faster. This is a bit like the philosophy that underlies an entire section of research in the field ofspace exploration. And that’s basically normal: we seek to broaden our horizons by going beyond the Moon to go to Mars, for example. Except that in the current state of our technologies, the journey would be too long, which pushes us to develop new types of engines, more powerful and faster. The goal is also to get rockets off the ground using alternative fuels.
But in the middle of this frantic race, it is sometimes good to slow down a little and return to the possibilities offered by Nature, in particular the wind. This is what the woman must have said NASA when she started the project Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3). It is neither more nor less than a large silver sail capturing the energy emitted by the light of the Sun to move what it is attached to forward, once the object is put into orbit. As we write these lines, this space ship is a few hours from takeoff, the April 24, 2024 from 11:30 p.m. Paris time.
NASA launches sail capable of moving through space using sunlight
The prototype consists of a small satellite about the size of a microwave appointed CubeSatto which is fixed 4 triangular panels with a total surface area of 80 m² approximately. They are the ones who will receive the photons (particles of light) from the Sun, the latter exerting a very light push, but sufficient to propel the whole thing. This sail can tilt to adjust the trajectory of the whole, like that of a boat. The idea is simple on paper, but it posed many difficulties for the research teams.
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To be useful, the panels must be large enough. It is therefore impossible to take them unfolded into a rocket. As a result, the structure that supports them should ideally be flexible and light so as not to take up too much space neither. The solution was to manufacture arms in the form of tubes with flexible polymers and carbon fiber materials. Result : it is possible to lay them flat then roll them up like a tape measure.
NASA’s new solar sail could revolutionize space exploration
The first launch of the ACS3 system aims to verify that the concept imagined by NASA works in a real situation. The targeted orbit is located approximately 1,000 kilometers above our heads. Once it is placed on it, the CubeSat will unfurl its sails and will send crucial information to the space agency. The aim is in fact to measure the thrust allowed by solar light in order to imagine a much larger device in the future, not just one that allows the movement of a space microwave.
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NASA already has big ambitions for ACS3. If successful, an intermediate step will be to create a 500 m² sail. To give you an idea, the surface area of a basketball court is 420 m². Then she could reach 2000 m². If we stay in the sporting comparison, tell yourself that an official adult football field can do at least 4,050 m². The sail would therefore cover about half of it. Of course, the larger the latter, the more it can be attached to a heavy and imposing machine.
Let us remember, however, that the benefits of photonic propulsion have already been demonstrated by the success of Japanese mission IKAROS in 2010. The country’s space agency, JAXAin fact launched that year a 173 m² solar sailthe largest to have sailed in space to date.