\n<\/p>\n
Innovation is a history of someone trying to build a better mouse trap \u2013 or at least that\u2019s how it\u2019s described in business school. But what happens if someone tries to build a better version of something that isn\u2019t even commonly used yet? Maybe we will soon find out, as NASA recently supported an effort to build a better type of solar sail as part of its Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The project, called \u201cThe Ribbon\u201d on its announcement page, is a novel take on a typical solar sail and is being developed by a company called TestGuild Engineering out of Boulder, which seems to be run by a sole proprietor known as Gyula Greschik, who also appears to be a researcher at UC Boulder. The Ribbon consists of a \u201cfilm strip with a diffractive grating\u201d that uses the same principle as a traditional solar sail to move \u2013 light pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n The diffractive grating is the key here \u2013 when the Ribbon is oriented towards the light from the Sun, the light effectively \u201cpushes\u201d it, just like a solar sail. But, in this case, the diffractive grating causes the force to be directed toward the \u201cleading end\u201d of the Ribbon. Importantly, it does this with no structure components at all \u2013 just the Ribbon itself.<\/p>\n \n