More on Planetary Society Solar Sail Launch

gwernol writes "The BBC is reporting that a spacecraft powered by the solar wind will be launched into orbit in the fall. This is a direct competitor to the similar Russian effort recently discussed on Slashdot. Interestingly this is not a NASA-funded mission; it is financed by the Planetary Society using private money. Not quite the build-your-own rocketship recently reported here, but still good to see private funding in space driving some real innovation." We've mentioned this launch before.

Comments

it's not the wind

[rakerman]

Unfortunately the ocean sailing analogy breaks down: solar sails are not propelled by the solar wind, which is essentially a stream of particles from the sun. Solar sails are propelled by pure light pressure - by photons bouncing off of them.