SPACE.com: Japan’s IKAROS is the first spacecraft to be propelled by sunlight. Short for Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun, IKAROS was launched on 21 May by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. IKAROS‘s solar sailâmdash;successfully deployed in early June—is embedded with thin-film solar cells, and, when struck by light photons, can move the craft through space. The probe felt its first accelerating push from sunlight earlier this month. IKAROS even captured a photograph of itself by deploying a small, free-floating camera.
