As the Japanese space agency JAXA announced, raised on Friday morning from Tanegashima Space Centre (South Japan), a carrier rocket, which include the ambitious “space ship” Icarus has on board.
Ikaros Sonnensegel
What makes the project Ikaros is the drive. The spaceship is equipped with a thin solar sail, which is similar in shape to a dragon. This sail is designed to absorb sunlight instead of wind particles. The pressure of the target particles on the sail reached to bring the vehicle forward.
Photovoltaic solar cells at the same time has Ikaros sail which convert light into electricity.
should be tested in this way, whether that hybrid technology is suitable as a future drive technology for interplanetary missions.
Also on board is the Akatsuki probe orbiter that direction breaks and Venus is due to arrive in six months there. The probe will explore the climate of Venus, in order to draw conclusions about the environment of the earth.