NASA is working on something massive, and it will focus on a new spacecraft that would not need engines or burn fuel to get it going as it floats across space and gets to where it needs to go. It is called a "Diffractive Solar Sail," and from the name itself, it will focus on the technology and basics of a sailboat that uses wind to propel itself across the oceans.
However, the Solar Sail would border on the Sun's power in this case.
NASA Solar Sail: Sailboat Technology in Space?
(Photo : MacKenzi Martin/NASA)
Diffractive solar sails, depicted in this conceptual illustration, could enable missions to hard-to-reach places, like orbits over the Sun’s poles.
Sailboats are for bodies of water and short travels only, but NASA is defying the odds by taking the sailboat to another level, and it is in the most unimaginable place. Yes, NASA is taking a sailboat to space, relatively the concept of it by using external power to help its vehicle move freely and available to control up to their desire.
NASA's Diffractive Solar Sails is already in the Phase III study under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. It means that it is transcending over to its final stage. Initially a concept, it is now on its way towards possible ventures that would help make it a thing within NASA or commercial partners.
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NASA Solar Sail: How Does it Work?
NASA's Space Tech focuses on the new Solar Sail that will help the space agency go to the heavens and explore it without engines or machinery. The Solar Sails would take on the pressure emitted by the Sun, as felt in the cold space, and it would then use this power to propel itself and ride through the cosmos.
It is unknown if it would only work in places near the Sun's vicinity.
NASA and its Ventures
NASA is looking at massive space ventures for its operations. While most of it focuses on profound space discoveries, it still brings enormous development to the information that humans know about the universe. One of the latest discoveries is with NASA's Hubble telescope, which saw a dwarf spiral galaxy by looking into a "needle's eye."
Deep space is one of the most focused topics in NASA, as it gives answers to more questions that humans have regarding the massive place that surrounds the public today. It widely remains unknown, with discoveries by Hubble being enough to give insights about it but not provide an exact or absolute answer regarding it.
Now, there is another technology that NASA aims to bring to outer space, and it will be one sustainable spacecraft that would be a massive foundation for future space travels in the Solar System. It is essential that it gets energy from the Sun, as it will be its primary source of power to float and navigate the cosmic heavens for when it starts its mission.
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Written by Isaiah Richard
