Because of my interest in sailing on water, I’ve always been facinated by the idea of solar sailing. Came across this interesting tidbit:
The concept of space sails is not new. About the time Jamestown was being established as America’s first permanent colony at dawn of the 17th century, German astronomer Johannes Kepler penned a letter to Italian astronomer Galileo, advocating “ship or sails adapted to the heavenly breezes” to travel to Jupiter or the Moon. Having observed that a comet’s tail always faces away from the Sun, Kepler concluded that light from the Sun must exert a force that pushes its tail away.
I have to admit I have always been more of a fan of Tycho Brahe than Kepler. Not because his work in astronomy, but the whole getting his nose chopped up in a duel and wearing a metal one story was great. I’ll have to rethink my stand.