I love it when I get to see science fiction become reality. At this point in history, we are so passe' about amazing things like wireless communication, computers, cooking with microwaves, and the internet. In fact, my children don't blink at the notion of how fantastic our world has become. Next week, NASA is set to turn the fantasy of solar sail technology into reality.

Solar sails are the type of craft we have seen in movies such as Star Wars. You know, Count Dooku's ship as he sneaks away. Ships like Dooku's and NASA's NanoSail-D are able to harness photons from the sun like wind and effectively sail through the universe. It is NASA's hope that this sail technology can be used to travel very long distances though our solar system.

This is all very cool. The sail, which is described by NASA as looking "like Saran Wrap with a metalized surface but is stronger and suited for the space environment," is deployed through a complex system involving all sorts of rocket science (literally).

The launch is set to go on July 29 via a Falcon 1 rocket. With any luck, we will be ushering a whole new era of science fiction reality.

Source.