Scientists Work to Sail Spaceship on Suns Wind
Scientists Work to Sail Spaceship on Suns Wind
PASADENA, Calif. (Wireless Flash) It sounds spacey, but scientists may soon figure out how to use the suns wind to sail a spaceship. Dr. Louis Friedman who co-created The Planetary Society along with the late Carl Sagan says the society is currently building and testing a solar wind-sailing spaceship that will likely launch later this year. He says the craft moves by converting the pressure of the suns photons into momentum when sunlight is bounced off a reflective surface. The technology doesnt require fuel and Friedman claims it will enable the vessels to take humans to the stars. Dr. Friedman will lecture on the project called Cosmos I: The Attempt to Fly the First Solar Sail Mission and its progress at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, next Monday (April 11).
Mon 04-08-02