Japanese Prepared To Launch Solar-Powered Space Sails With Jinxed Name
Posted by Justin on May 3rd, 2010
The Japanese are going to launch a new solar-powered space ship which will harnass the power of the sun for its energy with huge sails that are thinner than human hair. They are dubbing the project Ikaros. I am assuming this means the engineers only read the first part of the Greek myth before putting it down and assuming everything went well.
Ikaros stands for “Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun.” The name is also a reference to the Greek myth of Icarus, a young man who, with his father Daedalus, attempted to escape exile in Crete by fashioning wings of feathers and wax. According to the myth, Icarus flew too close to the sun, and the heat melted the wax in his wings, causing him to plummet to his death.
Ikaros is scheduled to take to the skies May 18th.
[Mashable]
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May 5th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
And so the energy will be redirected to earth to use the energy ? Or how am I supposed to see this ?