If you have read as much science-fiction as I have, you’ll be familiar with the concept of the solar-sailed spacecraft. In the pages of fiction, these craft use large surfaces to capture the pressure of particles emanating from the sun. Theoretically, the pressure could be used to propel the craft — slowly.
Could such a spacecraft actually work? We’ll find out in September, when Cosmos 1, the first solar sail spacecraft, launches from a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea.
Will the solar sails work at all? Some scientists claim that those pesky laws of physics will get in the way. I’ll be watching eagerly.