NASA released first photo of solar sail deployed in space

In late August, NASA announced the completion of the deployment of a solar sail in space as part of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) mission. The agency has now released the first image of the sail, captured by a camera onboard the spacecraft that delivered it into Earth’s orbit. It is expected that solar sails will be used in the future to move satellites through space.

The released image might appear somewhat unclear due to the spacecraft slowly rotating as it moves in orbit. Once NASA collects enough telemetry data on the sail’s operation and the composite booms holding it, the agency will stabilize the spacecraft’s position. After that, clearer images are likely to be taken.

The spacecraft is equipped with four wide-angle cameras, one of which captured the released image. In the lower part of the picture, you can see "reflective square sails, supported by composite beams," and at the top, the backside of one of the solar panels is visible. The sail elements appear slightly distorted due to the wide-angle view of the camera.