A solar sail (or light sail, or photon sail) is a theoretical (but currently seriously under study) device which allows to propel a spacecraft by the pressure exert on the sail by the photons emitted by the sun, like a sailing boat propel by the wind.
This pressure being very weak, a solar sail must have a very large surface for the propulsion force be measurable.
Matching words: Photon, Spaceship
Examples :
- Les Voiliers du soleil, by the French author Gérard Klein
- The Flight of the Dragonfly, by Robert Forward
- Star Trek: Deep Space 9, 3×22 episode « Explorers »
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