Japan launched a satellite with a solar sail
April 28, 2010 – 9:56 pm
Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) plans to 18 May 2010 to launch a satellite into space, moving through the solar sail.
The device is known as Ikaros (short for Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun – interplanetary sailing apparatus, moving through the solar radiation). The name of the satellite is also slightly distorted by the name of the hero of the ancient myths of Icarus (in English, he writes Icarus), who, wearing wings made by his father, tried to fly to the sun, but crashed.
Starting Ikaros held from Japanese Tanegashima Space Center (Tanegashima). Initially, the sail apparatus, which is a square with a diagonal length of the membrane 20 meters, will be complex and will be revealed only in orbit. Despite the fact that the membrane thickness does not exceed the thickness of hair, it built photovoltaic cells that will produce electricity by the energy of particles flying from the Sun. Thus, Ikaros is moving through the pressure of solar wind – flying from the star the flow of charged particles – and at the expense of electricity. Correct direction of flight apparatus of specialists will be at the expense of changing the angle of inclination of the sail.
The cost of developing the satellite was about 1.5 billion yen (approximately $16 million). Ikaros does not meet the serious scientific problems, although scientists are going to use it to examine some characteristics of the solar wind. The main purpose of the launch vehicle – to develop technology to work with ships having a solar sail. If Ikaros is successful, the project, in late 2010 JAXA specialists expect to launch another sailing apparatus to Jupiter and the asteroids, said Lenta.Ru.
In addition to working on ships moving through the solar wind, the Japanese intend to actively explore the moon. Since 2020, JAXA plans to build on the earth’s satellite in a lunar base, and run there a few lunar rovers.
