A recent study submitted to Acta Astronautica and currently available on the arXiv preprint server explores the potential for using aerographite solar sails for traveling to Mars and interstellar space, which could dramatically reduce both the time and fuel required for such missions.
While a promising line of research it should be noted that 26 day headline only applies to rapid delivery of small payloads (sub-kilogram) throughout the solar system.
Quote:
For the study, the researchers conducted simulations on how fast a solar sail made of aerographite with a mass up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds), including 720 grams of aerographite with a cross-sectional area of 104 square meters, could reach Mars
So, this is more about sending micro-satellites to the outer planets than it is about sending human or cargo missions…
Also
Sounds like it’s probably best to work out all these issues with small payloads before scaling up to human transport.
It can’t really be scaled up to human carrying capacity. The density of solar wind is very sparce. Any sail large enough to accelerate a human habitat would itself become too heavy.
So I guess we’re back to the drawing board.
Do we got those nuclear engines kicking around anywhere?
Good point. I’d be so down for an army of micro-sattelites just cruising the solar system just taking pics