"We estimate that a solar sail could reach speeds of 100,000 miles per hour and for example Voyager One right now is travelling about 37,000 miles per hour and it's going to take it thousands of years to reach the nearest star system. Solar sailing might be able to get us there in a more reasonable time, perhaps within a human lifetime."
-Charlene Anderson, Associate Director of the Planetary Society
Tuesday, 21 June, 2005

EXCERPT
Znamya (1997)
Znamya-3 experiment is a significant phase of the SRC reflector development program. It requires substantial modification of a Progress M spacecraft. An additional thin film reflector of much larger size (60-70 meters) will be incorporated to the outer spacecraft structure. A new control device will also be introduced which will allow the spacecraft to control a large moment of inertia without using reaction control thrusters. The Znamya 3 reflector may also incorporate an array of thin film photovoltaics into the reflector structure as part of the test. The main goal of the Znamya-3 experiment is to test a new reflector concept and design in space, and verify major design characteristics.

EXCERPT
ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation)
October 24 (year unstated)
"...they feel so confident they're even talking about building mirrors larger than a football field that could be placed in orbit high above the Earth. But instead of facing out, these mirrors would face in, looking at the Earth instead of into space. A mirror that large could provide high-resolution images of half of the globe, allowing scientists to keep track of weather systems, fires, and all sorts of things.

EXCERPT:
The dream of the space mirror dates back to Hermann Oberth, the great mathematician and physicist, who in the early 1920s published Ways and Means to Space Navigation. In his book Oberth described various uses for space mirrors, including its destructive forces as a military weapon, capable of destroying cities and incinerating armies in the battlefield from space.