What is Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3)?

About Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3):

• It is a NASA technology demonstration mission designed to characterize solar sail structures technologies for future small spacecraft to engage in deep space missions requiring long-duration, low-thrust propulsion.
• Launched on April 23, 2024, ACS3 will deploy a sail about the size of a small apartment from a toaster oven-size spacecraft.
  • At its core, ACS3 is a CubeSat, a small satellite built to standardized dimensions. It features four 7 m long deployable composite booms.
• Just as a sailboat is powered by wind in a sail, solar sails employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket propellant.
  • Space missions have demonstrated that small spacecraft can use solar sails to change their orbits, expanding their possible uses.
  • Future solar sail missions will need bigger sails and lighter materials to maximize their performance.
• ACS3 uses lightweight carbon fiber sail booms instead of traditional metal booms.
• This will be the first test of this technology in space.
• What is solar sailing?

Light is made up of particles called photons. Photons don’t have mass, but they have momentum.

As sunlight reflects off a shiny solar sail, some of its momentum getst transferred, giving the sail a small push.

This push is slight but continuous and, over time, can impart more thrust to a spacecraft than traditional chemical rockets.

Solar sails can reach unique destinations that are difficult or impossible to access with other propulsion systems.

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They may also be our best option for interstellar travel.

Q1: What are CubeSats? 

CubeSats are a class of nanosatellites that use a standard size and form factor. The standard CubeSat size uses a “one unit” or “1U” measuring 10x10x10 cm and is extendable to larger sizes; 1.5, 2, 3, 6, and even 12U.

Source: NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System Launched Into Space, To Redefine Propulsion