`radiation-pressure` Related Article Results

A solar sail is a propulsion system that moves through space by utilizing the momentum of photons emitted from the Sun or stars. It relies on photon pressure from electromagnetic radiation, not the solar wind. This technology is an application of Newton’s laws of motion and Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory. Although individual photons have no mass, they carry momentum. When this momentum strikes a reflective surface—the solar sail—it generates a recoil force in the opposite direction, in accorda