Nasa has unfurled a solar sail in space for the first time, aiming to harness the propulsive power of sunlight for interstellar travel. The US space agency revealed that it had deployed the solar sail ...

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 ...

Sails have been in use to propel ships across lakes and oceans for thousands of years. They're simple tools that use the wind to move vessels through the water — and in some cases, across the land.

Depending on the mission they've been created to fulfill spacecraft can be powered by a variety of technologies. Presently, the most widespread is the one that uses propellant and rocket engines. But ...

A giant solar sail recently unfurled by Nasa has been spotted “tumbling” through space. Astronomers captured the 80-square-metre object, which was unfurled last week, appearing to fluctuate in ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Solar power has long been coveted as an energy source for vehicles ...

Like a regular sail uses wind to navigate across an ocean, solar sails use the pressure exerted by sunlight to move through space. (Pictured: a conceptual illustration of a diffractive solar sail) ...

We need to make bigger solar sails from materials that can take high temperatures. Taking high temperatures means the solar sails could fly closer to the sun. If we got four times closer to the sun ...