Ride The Light: Planetary Society To Launch 3 Solar Sails
(Hat Tip: Space Spin)
Thanks to the donation of an anonymous donor, it looks as if the Planetary Society will be able to launch not one, but three (3!) solar sails over the next several years.
(The Planetary Society) LightSail is an innovative program that will launch three separate spacecraft over the course of several years, beginning with LightSail-1, which will demonstrate that sunlight alone can propel a spacecraft in Earth orbit. LightSails 2 and 3, more ambitious still, will reach farther into space.
“We are going to merge the ultra-light technology of nanosats with the ultra-large technology of solar sails in an audacious new program,” said Friedman.
Taking advantage of the technological advances in micro- and nano-spacecraft over the past five years, The Planetary Society will build LightSail-1 with three Cubesat spacecraft. One Cubesat will form the central electronics and control module, and two additional Cubesats will house the solar sail module. Cameras, additional sensors, and a control system will be added to the basic Cubesat electronics bus.
“To get sunlight to push us through space, we need a large sail attached to a small spacecraft. Lightsail-1 fits into a volume of just three liters before the sails unfurl to fly on light. It’s elegant,” exclaimed Planetary Society Vice President Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Solar sail’s have the potential of opening up the outer solar system by eliminating the need for star ships to bring their own fuel with them (reducing the overall cost).
While the lack of on board fuel is a benefit to solar sails, its only setback to solar sails would be finding a way for settlers to return back to Earth (an issue magnetic sails might be able to resolve).
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A New Hope: Nanosail-D May Launch Again
(Hat Tip: Space Transport News, Image Credit: John Ballentine)
While many will acknowledge SpaceX’s third launch failure as a setback for the private space sector (aka NewSpace), many may not realize that it was also a setback for the “deep space” community as one of the passengers on board was the Nanosail-D satellite (a solar sail prototype).
Despite the tragic loss, it looks as though another solar sail is available for launch–provided that they can secure a rocket to send them beyond the sky.
(Centauri Dreams) Greg’s recent phone call may not have been as dramatic as that scene in Contact, but he was able to tell me that although NanoSail-D did perish in the SpaceX Falcon explosion, there is a second sail. Marshall Space Flight Center built two. So now we’re in the energizing position of having a second chance at a sail deployment in space, and it could be done soon via the next Falcon launch, if SpaceX will cooperate in the enterprise.
Hopefully SpaceX will be kind enough to consider adding NanoSail’s “surviving twin” on the next rocket, as it will help scientists and engineers study how a solar sail reacts “in the wild” (not to mention give SpaceX something to boast about to the ever skeptical media).
Even though the solar sail have the potential of helping humanity visit other star systems, they could also shorten the amount of time it would take to reach lunar moons around the gas giants (not to mention the Kuiper Belt as well).
This would enable future colonies on Callisto, Ganymede, Titan and Neptune’s Triton to flourish, as solar sails could be used to speedily transport goods between these distant worlds.
Update: Added “hat tip.”
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Now Or Never: Its Solar Sail Time!
(Image Credit: John Ballentine)
Whether by nuclear, chemical or magic (note: joking on the last item) humanity has used rockets to transport ourselves and our robotic friends across the solar system.
Even though rockets can get us off world in a hurry, they may not be too efficent when traveling around our own star system (not to mention reaching another one).
In order to help humanity receive the “extra thrust” necessary to conquer the final frontier, the Ames Research Center (of NASA) will be deploying the first solar sail to soar throughout the solar system.
(Physorg.com) Montgomery’s team and a team from Ames Research Center (led by Elwood Agasid) hope to make history this summer by deploying a solar sail called NanoSail-D. It will travel to space onboard a SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket, scheduled for launch from Omelek Island in the Pacific Ocean during a window extending from July 29th to August 6th (a back-up extends from August 29th to September 5th). [...]
“It’s not so much about how far a sail will go compared to a rocket; the key is how fast,” says Montgomery. “The Voyagers have escaped the solar system, and they were sent by rockets, but it’s taken more than three decades to do it. A sail launched today would probably catch up with them in a single decade. Sails are slower to get started though. So, for example, between the Earth and the moon, rockets might be preferred for missions with a short timeline. It’s a trip of days for rockets, but months for a solar sail. The rule of thumb, therefore, would be to use rockets for short hops and solar sails for the long hauls.”
Even though alternative forms of “space thrust” have been developed (such as the ion propulsion system), the solar sail is one of the few technologies that would enable humanity to become an interstellar species, and not merely an interplanetary one.
Although this technology would be perfect for visiting (and perhaps colonizing) the Kuiper Belt Objects, it may help our young race to establish a quick transport to the outer gas giants (not to mention Pluto as well).
Update (7/5): It looks like SpaceX will be launching the Solar Sail for NASA!
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Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.
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