We're all used to the idea of solar energy being harnessed to produce electricity, and to humankind's ongoing efforts to make it logistically feasible as a replacement for our dwindling fossil fuels. But the concept of the solar sail requires a different type of thinking.

Imagine something which operates at the tiniest of sub-atomic scales yet could help us traverse unimaginable interstellar distances; something which adapts a millennia-old maritime technology, and the elemental energy of the Sun, to satisfy our desire to reach fresh worlds. That's the solar sail.

It harnesses tiny subatomic particles of light called photons, which are so small that they have no mass but they do have momentum. It focuses the photons onto the reflective surface of the solar sail, bouncing off to impart a minuscule amount of push on the spacecraft.

Read more ☄️ https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2020-11-23/Sailing-on-sunbeams-RAZOR-VAhRrOmOYw/index.html

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