First 'solar sail' prepares for launch

Posted on: Jun. 20th, 2005 || Source: usatoday.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

A space advocacy group is hoping to show the world a new way to power vehicles through space by launching the first "solar sail" into orbit Tuesday.

If successful, the privately launched Cosmos 1 will pioneer an elegant method of space travel that uses gentle pressure from sunlight to ply outer space. In theory, the impact of each light particle, or photon, from sunlight on the spacecraft's sails will propel the probe through space's airless, near-frictionless vacuum.

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