NASA awards $2 million to moonshot solar sail project

The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 is one of the newer solar sails on the market. One group of researchers is pushing the boundaries of technology.

The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program gives the team a $2 million budget to bring their concept into reality.

Unlike sails on boats, which are powered by wind, solar sails are powered by light. One day, a diffractive solar sail developed through NIAC could aid space missions, as it is a more efficient evolution of traditional solar sails.

Traditional solar sails are based on the law of reflection, whereas diffractive sails are based on the optical mechanism, according to the project lead.

Dubill's team is working on a new twist on this proven tech, as before, photons hitting the sail impart their momentum to the spacecraft.

The advantage of using diffraction to do this instead of reflection is the ability to tailor the angle at which the incoming light is redirected so that the resulting force is more efficient for orbital maneuvers without having to tack a large flimsy structure.

NASA's high-risk, high-reward incubator that explores the possibilities of unusual technology in space has already completed Phase I and Phase II of the Diffractive Solar Sailing project. The first phase is dedicated to developing concepts and proving their potential. The concepts are transitioned into reality in Phase III. Five projects have been awarded Phase III status since NIAC's inception, as most projects don't prove enough potential in Phases I and II for NASA to pursue further.

The $2 million in funding will be used by Dubill and her team to design and manufacture sail materials, which they plan to test at various facilities across the country over the next two years.

In parallel, we plan to evolve the vision of a solar polar orbiter sailcraft mission by establishing optimal trajectory and attitude control of the sail to achieve the solar observations dictated by our heliophysicists.

Our star's poles have not yet been explored, which is of particular interest to NASA.

LaPointe suggests that the same technology could be used on similar missions. The Diffractive Solar Sailing project is funded by NASA and needs to get off the ground.