SOLAR SAILS Photonic Propulsion

" The full force of the Sun . . . He smiled wryly, remembering all his attempts to explain solar sailing to those lecture audiences back on Earth. / . . . / " Hold your hands out to the Sun " he'd said. " What do you feel ? Heat, of course. But there's pressure as well - though you've never noticed it, because it's so tiny. Over the area of your hands, it come only to one millionth of an ounce. " But out in space, even a pressure as small as that can be important, for it's acting all the time, hour after hour, day after day. Unlike rocket fuel, it's free and unlimited. If you want to, you can use it. We can build sails to catch the radiation blowing from the Sun. " Excerpt from "The Wind from the Sun" by Arthur C. Clarke, May 1963.1983. Text and Illustration Olivier Boisard From the short story by Arthur C.Clarke The Wind From the Sun © Olivier Boisard - U3P - 1985/1996

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