setting sail into space

Many years ago I read with great interest, an article about the possibility of space travel utilizing a large sail attached to a small, manned pod. The science of the sail essentially involves propelling a space ship via light that carries not only energy, but momentum. The force is a gentle one at first propelling the space ship slowly, and gradually accumulating speeds of hundreds of thousands of miles an hour. Such speeds would enable a ship to travel the distance of our solar system in 5 years. Using the light from a powerful laser, a journey to another star system could be made in 100 years.

Experiments are currently underway testing the feasibility of this mode of travel. The woman heading a collaboration between two groups interested in this technology is Ann Druyan, the widow of Carl Sagan. Backing for some of the experiments has been provided by an anonymous donor who was intrigued by a presentation given by one of the groups. I sound like a real geek here, but I remember a Deep Space Nine episode in which the series' main character and his son sail a portion of the cosmos in a craft propelled by a large solar sail. It's a very romantic notion; sailing the stars on the solar winds generated by the sun in the darkness of space. I continue to revel in the wonders we confront each day and the possibilities that life affords us.