Sunjammer

NASA is planning to launch the largest solar sail yet in late 2014 using a Falcon 9 rocket.  The project is called Sunjammer.  The sail will be folded down to about the size of a dishrag, weighing 70 pounds, in the rocket, then deploy to cover an area of about one-third of an acre in space.

Solar sails work much like ships' sails, except the wind they capture is the solar wind that constantly blows out from the Sun.  The acceleration achieved with a solar sail is tiny, but because it is constant, over time solar sails can reach incredible speeds.  They are also maneuverable, and need to carry no propulsion unit or fuel.  Sunjammer is a technology demonstration project which, if successful, will open the way to a whole new class of science missions because solar sails will be able to reach orbits chemical rockets cannot.

Sunjammer will also carry the ashes of Gene and Majel Roddenberry into space.