LightSail 2 Deploys Solar Sail to Surf the Sun's Rays

A spacecraft the size of a loaf of bread has finally turned itself into a solar sail. On Tuesday (July 23) at about 2:47 p.m. EDT (1847 GMT), a motor onboard the small LightSail 2 cubesat began deploying the mission's 344-square-foot (32-square-meter) solar sail, which is about the size of a boxing ring. LightSail 2 is the passion project of The Planetary Society, and the space advocacy organization wants to demonstrate that solar surfing is a viable propulsion technique for spacecraft. More

(Source: Space.com - Jul 24)