Sails were essential to propel the boats of ancient civilizations. They are likely to play a similar role in the future of space travel. The latest generation propulsion systems do not take advantage of the wind, but rather the photons that arrive from the Sun. Although this technology seems straight out of science fiction, it is already a reality. The first space sail in history was recently successfully deployed, thanks to the collaboration between NASA and the company RocketLab.
Any great journey has testing stages in its history. The first solar sail deployed will propel a small satellite to approximately 965 kilometers high, in low Earth orbit. To put it in context, the International Space Station operates 400 kilometers from the Earth’s surface. The primary purpose of this solar sail is to collect fundamental flight data using light propulsion, with an eye toward future applications.
This is the first photo of solar turbulence in history
The Parker probe obtained for the first time a visible image of ‘Kelvin-Helmholtz’ instabilities, a type of turbulence in the solar wind.
The operation of the solar sail is based on the pressure of light. Its mechanism follows a principle similar to that of a sail on a ship.. The reflective surface of the satellite allows photons to bounce back, which in turn causes the thrust of the instrument and its corresponding handling in space.
Once in space, the satellite deployed a space structure of 80 square meters (nine meters per side) using mechanical arms, for 25 minutes. According to NASA, the first solar sail will be visible from the surface of the Earth as it will reach a brightness similar to that of Sirius, the most prominent star in the sky.
“The Sun will continue to burn for billions of years, so we have an unlimited source of propulsion. Instead of launching huge fuel tanks for future missions, we can launch larger sails that use fuel already available. “We are going to demonstrate a system that uses this abundant resource to take the next giant steps in exploration and science,” said Alan Rhodes, systems engineer, leader of NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Successful launch of the solar sail
On April 24, NASA and RocketLab successfully launched the payload into space 1,000 kilometers away. The mission consists of a series of maneuvers to demonstrate the ascent and descent of the orbit, using only the pressure of sunlight acting on the sail. During its stay in low orbit, the rise and descent of the region will be monitored using the pressure of sunlight arriving on the large sail. The launch was broadcast in real time and can be seen through the official RocketLab website or on the official channels of the United States Space Agency.
Both the materials of the sail and the mechanism that allows its deployment in space are a source of pride for science. The reflective compound is just a polymer resistant to radical temperature changes in space. The ‘arms’ that serve as support and extend along a diagonal of nine meters fit in the palm of a hand. With current materials, NASA estimates that they could reach a maximum deployment of 500 square meters. If everything happens as expected, one day in the not too distant future there will be solar sails measuring 2,000 square meters.
