"Ikaros" to Get Another Shot at Fame

Icarus is getting another shot at fame.

Next month, Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to send a craft - actually it's more of a solar sail - into space with name of Ikaros. ("Ikaros"is an acronym for "Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun.)

The Ikaros, which will be 66 feet diagonally across, will measure less than the thickness of a strand of human hair. The other remarkable aspect of the kite: It is being designed to exploit the energy of sunlight. The force generated by the sunlight will help propel the Ikaros, which also will be slathered with thin-film solar cells to help generate electricity. If the mission proves successful, the hope is that the project, among other things, will help reduce commercial costs in the solar cell market.

The Japanese space agency, more widely as JAXA, will control the angle at which the sun's energy particles bounce off the sail.

Icarus, the Greek mythological character who was the son of Daedalus, is known for his fatally flawed attempt to fly too close to the sun with wings made out of wax and feathers.

"Unlike the mythical Icarus, this Ikaros will not crash," said Yuichi Tsuda, a space systems expert at JAXA.

He said Ikaros will be propelled from the pressure of sunlight particles bouncing off the kite's sail.

"Solar sails are the technology that realizes space travel without fuel as long as we have sunlight," he said. "The availability of electricity would enable us to navigate farther and more effectively in the solar system."

Here are the specs released by the agency:

The shape of the membrane is square, with a diagonal distance of 20m. It is made of polyimide a mere 0.0075mm thick. In addition to the thin film solar cells, the steering devices and dust-counter sensors are fitted to the membrane.

The membrane is deployed, and kept flat, by its spinning motion. Four masses are attached to the four tips of the membrane in order to facilitate deployment. Deployment is in two stages. During the first stage, the membrane is deployed statically, and during the second stage, dynamically. This deployment method can be realized with simpler and lighter mechanisms than conventional mast or boom types as it does not require rigid structural elements.