Can you push a spacecraft with light?

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace: ‪http://www.squarespace.com/physicsgirl


What if you could power a ship using sunlight instead of wind? Well in space, you can! Solar sails or light sails are pushed with light from the sun. Photons provide a kick when they reflect off the sail pushing the sail like an air molecule in the wind pushes a sailboat. Find out how a solar sail works and about the future of this technology!


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Host/editor: Dianna Cowern


Wrter: Sophia Chen

Editor: Jabril Ashe – sefdstuff.com/science

Animator: Kyle Norby


Photos/Videos:

NASA

LightSail – Planetary Society

Pixabay.com

Shutterstock.com


FASTSAT NanoSail-D Launch – NASA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gS4n5vz9Tw


Optical Tweezes Footage – Dr Luis Grave De Petralta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6ybb9rKfus


IKAROS drawing – Andrzej MIrecki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS#/media/File:IKAROS_solar_sail.jpg


Music: APM and YouTube

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Published on January 19, 2016 14:34
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