Tuesday, 7 May 2013

New satellite sail is propelled by solar protons

A tiny new satellite is propelled by repulsion. ESTCube-1, which went into orbit on Tuesday, will put proton-powered electric solar sails to the test for the first time. It could pave the way for speedy trips through the solar system. Regular solar sails have large, thin mirrors that reflect photons from the sun to push the spacecraft forward.
crawled from : Newscientist

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