The term “solar sailing” was first coined by Arthur C. Clarke in the 1964 book “Sunjammer” but the roots of the concept can be traced back centuries. “Let us create vessels and sails adjusted to the heavenly ether, and there will be plenty of people unafraid of the empty wastes.” ~ Johannes Kepler, 17th century astronomer It’s the type of vision that spawns realities unimaginable to most, but it’s a vision that has come true in recent years and that will receive its biggest test as early as 2014, according to NASA. The sail utilizes the “currents” of the Sun’s energy to propel it through space much the…

We often look back at the great minds of the past in wonder as their predictions of what the future would look like. Sometimes, they are relatively accurate. Other times, they’re way off. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1974, Clarke nailed it. He said that we would all have computers, not like the ones that surround him in the video but much smaller ones.  As he describes them, he motions with his hands an approximate size and shape and one can imagine a laptop resting in his hands as they were perfectly positioned. He said we would be able to talk to people around the…