Solar sails represent one of the most elegant concepts in space exploration: using sunlight itself to propel spacecraft ...

Johnson has been spearheading solar sail work for 20 years, off and on, given the ebb and flow of development dollars. The technology has "come a long way, and we're working on the next one, Solar ...

Solar sails work similarly to nautical sails, but instead of being pushed by wind, they are impacted by the pressure of sunlight as photons bounce off of the reflective material they're made from.

An experimental NASA solar sail can be seen in the night sky as it orbits the Earth. NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) launched in April 2024 atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket.

Solar sails do NOT work this way.Sort of correct. Quibbles about what is a "push" and what is a "pull" in aeronautics. Solar sails are not just pushed in the direction away from the Sun.