Battleangel

The second trial is still 60 days away, but I caught a report in the last issue of Nature and got a little carried away. Not only is the project scientifically groundbreaking and visionary but the collaborations between COSMOS STUDIOS and the THE PLANETARY SOCIETY means the first ever space mission flown by a non-governmental advocacy group.

The physics behind “solar sails” are essentially sound, despite claims to the contrary by certain people. The issue is of course that the acceleration is extremely low since the force of reflected photons is miniscule. But if future “sails” can be made with enough surface area, and strong enough materials, the technology could very well be utilized for missions which go beyond the scope of traditional rocket engines, which accelerate over just a few seconds, are difficult to get into orbit and costly. Cheap solar sails driven capsules could act as observatories, radio telescopes and reconnaissance drones. Fanning out from our solar system in all directions long before we have the capacity to undertake manned missions.