Advanced Composite Solar Sail System Overview Video

NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System seeks to advance future space travel and expand our understanding of our Sun and Solar System. Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-next-generation-solar-sail-boom-technology-ready-for-launch/

What is said in the film

A NASA mission is testing revolutionary technology to allow robotic spacecraft to sail on sunlight. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System introduces a new way to explore the cosmos. Much like a sailboat is propelled by wind, a solar sail spacecraft is pushed by light from the Sun. Sunlight is composed of particles called photons. As these particles bounce off the reflective sail, the spacecraft accelerates.

This eliminates the need for rocket propellant and makes it possible for spacecraft to travel indefinitely. The sail is stored inside a spacecraft about the size of a microwave oven. Lightweight carbon fiber booms unroll from the spacecraft to form rigid tubes that support the ultra-thin, reflective polymer sail. When fully deployed, the sail forms a square that is 33 by 33 feet, or about half the size of a tennis court. Altitude and position are changed by angling the sail toward or away from the Sun.

Results from the mission will guide the design of next-generation solar sail spacecraft to explore and conduct science across the solar system.

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