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Solar sailing into the great beyond

solar sail

Want to travel to the ends of the universe? Without fuel? Then you're going to need a solar sail, which uses reflected light particles from the Sun as its propulsion (they bounce of the sail and push it forward, hence the name). Conveniently enough, the ISAS (the Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences) has completed the world's first successful full-scale deployment of the 7.5 micrometer-thick sails. A solar sail spacecraft is our current best best for deep space exploration, since it can pretty much go forever. Not quite the Millennium Falcon, but until we can crack that whole speed of light limit thing, it'll have to do.