Researchers are now developing "electric sails" for spacecraft that will help them ride the solar wind, the outward flux of protons, electrons and other charged particles the comes from the sun, toward their destinations at unprecedented speeds, according to Space. They hope to have the technology, also called the Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System (HERTS), developed and ready to go by 2025.
"It looks really, really promising for ultra-deep-space exploration," said Les Johnson of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
The sails will be made up of a collection of extremely thin wires, which would then attach to the spacecraft as it slowly turns, according to Outer Places. As the spacecraft turns, the electric charge on the wires would propel it away from the sun, giving it the ability to travel at extremely high speeds.
"A high-voltage, positive bias on the wires, which are oriented normal to the solar wind flow, deflects the streaming protons, resulting in a reaction force on the wires - also directed radially away from the sun," researchers wrote. "Over periods of months, this small force can accelerate the spacecraft to enormous speeds - on the order of 100-150 km/s (~ 20 to 30 AU/year)."
Although the design is coming along, there are still some problems that require solutions - for example, in order to maintain its charge, the spacecraft will require some sort of electron gun, which may require an unfeasible amount of energy.
The electric sail propulsion system was announced in August, according to Aviation Week, although this is the most detailed information about the proposed technology made available yet.
