NASA‘s ACS3 satellite, built by NanoAvionics, successfully deploys solar sail

Engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center test deployment of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System’s solar sail. The unfurled solar sail is approximately 30 feet (about 9 meters) on a side. Since solar radiation pressure is small, the solar sail must be large to efficiently generate thrust. Photo of the sail is courtesy of NASA. More

(Source: SatNews - Sep 20)