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The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km (50,200 mi).
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Solar sail
Space propulsion method using Sun radiation
Solar sails are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large surfaces. A number of spaceflight missions to test solar propulsion and navigation have been proposed since the 1980s. The two spacecraft to successfully use the technology…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
IKAROS
First interplanetary solar sail spacecraft
IKAROS is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) experimental spacecraft. The spacecraft was launched on 20 May 2010, aboard an H-IIA rocket, together with the Akatsuki probe and four other small spacecraft. IKAROS is the first spacecraft to successfully demonstrate solar…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Venus
Second planet from the Sun
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" among the planets of the Solar System for its orbit being the closest to Earth's, both being rocky planets and having the most similar and nearly equal size and mass. Venus, though, differs…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)