The sun is the center of our solar system and the source of the power that gives us life. But for most of human history, we haven't understood it.
Until fairly recently, we appreciated the sun's light every morning but didn't think of it as an energy source. Now solar panels are popping up around the world, and the Planetary Society is getting ready to launch a satellite called LightSail-1, which will be powered by sunlight.
LightSail-1 is basically a giant Mylar kite that will be pushed along by light photons from the sun. The beauty of photon power is that it lasts forever, unlike the rocket fuel on traditional satellites. A spacecraft pushed by the sun will keep going, gradually moving faster and faster, until it reaches speeds of one-tenth the speed of light " about 67 million miles per hour.
That's fast.
For thousands of years, we underestimated the size of the sun, thinking it was smaller than the earth. Even the ancient Greeks " described by one writer as "the classic nerds of the...
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