LCD 'Engine' For Spacecraft Attitude Control 95
Bruce Perens writes "Japan's IKAROS satellite, which earlier performed the first successful demonstration of a solar sail, has broken more new ground. Liquid-crystal displays — yes, like in your video monitor — were fabricated into strips on the edges of the solar sail. By energizing some of the LCDs and changing the reflective characteristics of parts of the sail from specular to diffuse, JAXA scientists successfully generated attitude control torque in the sail, changing the spacecraft's orientation."
I have a CRT (Score:1, Insightful)
"yes, like in your video monitor"
No, I have an old fashioned Sony CRT monitor.
Re:Useful for stationkeeping? (Score:5, Insightful)
What, exactly, do you mean by a 'real spacecraft'.
IKAROS is real. It's in space. It's actually using this.
Have I missed something? From what I can tell, this is about as real as you can get.
Re:I have a CRT (Score:3, Insightful)
Number One, Make it so.
Riker had to be the worst first officer in Star Fleet; Picard had to keep telling him when to go pee.
Re:Next up... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Next up... (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a bit of a cheat in the directly downwind assertion.
While it true that the vehicle is going directly downwind, its propeller is rotating in the wind. This causes to blade to experience the wind at an angle, just like a sailboat tacking into the wind. And in addition to the "lift" force perpendicular to the blade forcing the car forward, its rotation is used to drive the wheels.
Very clever nonetheless.