NASA HERTS, A Huge Solar Sail For Traveling Into Deep Space

NASA recently announced further funding for a huge new solar sail spacecraft that could travel quickly across the solar system and beyond. Called HERTS, or Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System, the sail would launch on Earth as a relatively compact spacecraft, but once it reached a safe distance from earth, it would unfold its Mylar sails across wires extending a whopping 12 miles from the spacecraft's center! The sails would use photonic pressure from the Sun's solar wind for thrust.

It is similar in many ways to the smaller LightSail launched recently by Bill Nye, based off designs by Carl Sagan.

Credit: Bruce. M Wiegmann

NASA MSEC Advanced Concepts Office