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Back in 1963, Pierre Boulle wrote ‘The Planet of The Apes’ in which earthlings travel to a distant planet by means of a solar-powered spaceship.
Something like this may be accomplished in the next few days when the Japanese satellite, Ikaros, is released from the H-IIA rocket which blasted off yesterday morning carrying a probe, Akatsuki, to study the inhospitable atmosphere of Venus which it will reach in December.
When it is released, Ikaros will unfurl an ultra-light solar sail which scientists hope will provide enough power to send the satellite on to Venus after Akatsuki.
What an exciting project - science fiction becoming a reality!
.
Back in 1963, Pierre Boulle wrote ‘The Planet of The Apes’ in which earthlings travel to a distant planet by means of a solar-powered spaceship.
Something like this may be accomplished in the next few days when the Japanese satellite, Ikaros, is released from the H-IIA rocket which blasted off yesterday morning carrying a probe, Akatsuki, to study the inhospitable atmosphere of Venus which it will reach in December.
When it is released, Ikaros will unfurl an ultra-light solar sail which scientists hope will provide enough power to send the satellite on to Venus after Akatsuki.
What an exciting project - science fiction becoming a reality!
.
