It takes a lot of power to get a spacecraft through Earth’s atmosphere and out of its gravity. But once a craft has reached orbit, it requires relatively little power to move through space. In fact, even tiny amounts of consistent power could allow a craft to travel to the furthest depths of the solar system, which is the principle behind solar sailing. This technology attaches huge, thin sheets of reflective material to a spacecraft.
The idea is to use a technology called diffractive solar sails, which have small gratings in the sails which lets some light through. As light passes through a small opening it spreads out, in a process called diffraction, which still provides a push against the sail. But because of the gratings, the incoming light can be more precisely controlled, hence the craft can be more accurately maneuvered.
The team is developing the technology with an eye to performing a demonstration mission that would visit the sun’s poles. It’s hard to reach these poles using traditional spacecraft propulsion systems, but solar sails could be used to put a craft in orbit around them.
Source: Entertainment Trends (entertainmenttrends.net)
And this is a digital trend WHY again?