Solar sail bill nye biography

In , astronomer Carl Sagan appeared on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show to talk about solar sailing, a technology he said could let spacecraft travel using particles and radiation from the Sun as propellant.

Forty years later, Sagan’s vision is becoming a reality.

On June 24, The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 spacecraft is scheduled to hitch a ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. When packed, the spacecraft weighs just over 11 pounds and is roughly the size of a loaf of bread.

Solar sail bill nye biography for kids

Once deployed, the solar sail stretches as wide as a regulation boxing ring.

LightSail 2 will be deployed seven days after the initial launch. In the week that follows, the spacecraft will swing open its immense solar panels, unfurl its sails, turn toward the Sun, and cruise like a dinghy around Earth.

The goal is to increase the spacecraft’s orbit t