LightSail 2 Sends Back 1st Signals From Its Solar-Surfing Test Flight (space.com) 61
The space advocacy organization The Planetary Society recently confirmed that its LightSail 2 spacecraft has sent its first signals home from space. From a report: The roughly 11-lb. (5 kilograms) cubesat is designed to prove that solar sailing is a feasible way of keeping satellites moving. Fuel is a costly and heavy commodity, and if LightSail 2 can prove that the solar-powered technique works well, perhaps future missions into the deep reaches of the solar system and beyond can be propelled by the charged particles released by the sun. The project launched into space last week (June 25) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy megarocket. On Tuesday (July 2), the bread-loaf-size LightSail 2 experiment left Prox-1, its carrier vehicle. LightSail 2 will ultimately open up its ultrathin four-panel sail to achieve a surface area about the size of a boxing ring.
But before that can happen, the Planetary Society team needed confirmation that the spacecraft itself was healthy. That message came on July 2, as the spacecraft was passing over the satellite's mission control at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. The signals came from LightSail 2's recently deployed radio antenna, which began transmitting status data and a call sign in the form of morse code, according to LightSail 2 officials. "We're all very happy -- after years of preparation, we are flying an operational spacecraft!" Bruce Betts, LightSail program manager and Planetary Society chief scientist, said in a statement.
But before that can happen, the Planetary Society team needed confirmation that the spacecraft itself was healthy. That message came on July 2, as the spacecraft was passing over the satellite's mission control at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. The signals came from LightSail 2's recently deployed radio antenna, which began transmitting status data and a call sign in the form of morse code, according to LightSail 2 officials. "We're all very happy -- after years of preparation, we are flying an operational spacecraft!" Bruce Betts, LightSail program manager and Planetary Society chief scientist, said in a statement.
To infinity... (Score:1)
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Good news, bad news (but mostly good)... The good news is that solar sailing can enable a ton of really interesting deep space projects to study the moons of the gas giants, and much more. Even better, with the cost of space launch falling dramatically (thanks mostly to SpaceX), we're on the verge of sending a bunch of probes on such missions. The bad news is, it's still going to take many years to get the the probes out there, and get the data back. But the bottom line is, we've got a whole bunch more brai
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IANA rocket scientist, but I think it would depend on the application. The most obvious drawback of SEP vs. solar sail is the need for on-board fuel, which will eventually run out. Whereas the solar sail's "reaction mass" is simply the solar wind itself.
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Yes, solar sails are great if you want to go zooming past something. They really suck if you want to stop at someplace unless you've already been there and set up some lasers to slow them down. Plus right now we're limited to the size of how much can be sent via a solar sail.
And it isn't very much at all. The transmission rate back is going to be very slow because you can't pack a big transmitter and antenna. It's going to be like the probe that just flew by Pluto recently with the slow transmission rate an
Re: To infinity... (Score:1)
You are starting out in a solar orbit. You wouldn't use the solar sail just to lift you straight away from the sun. You'd angle it to add orbital angular momentum, and rise that way. Alternatively, you could angle the sail so that you LOSE orbital angular momentum, and fall towards the sun. Since you're always in orbit, it's easy to match velocities with anything else in orbit, provided the orbits aren't too eccentric.
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As the other AC pointed out, for orbital transfers that won't matter. You can move closer to the Sun if you want, not too different than a sail boat tacking but instead using thrust to slow your orbit.
Also, designs have been already proposed for solar and light sails that include a braking components: the sail separates into an annular section and inner circular section, the latter with the payload. The annular outer section reflects light back at the other part, so it now gets light pressure from the oth
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A solar sail would be designed to tack like a sail boat. It would probably be able to do a gravity assist for a more radical change of direction. It wouldn't be easy, of course--it is rocket science, after all. Or something like that.
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I didn't know this was happening. It was science fiction to me until 2 minutes ago. Test it out, see if it can be improved by all means.
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Can you tack against solar charged particles?
This was my first thought. What happens when you get closer to another star than ours?
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You can get closer to a star with a solar sail. It all depends on being in orbit around the start to start. In order to get closer to the star, you angle the sail so that the reflected light is in the same direction as the current orbit (reverse thrust). This will slow down the craft's orbital velocity, causing it to fall towards the star. When the craft reaches the desired orbit, it angles its sail so that the reflected light goes in the opposite direction of the orbit (forward thrust), increasing its orbi
Hyperbole much? (Score:2)
megarocket?
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Ridiculous (Score:3, Funny)
Everyone knows that solar spacecraft will never replace coal-powered spacecraft.
#MAGA
Abc (Score:2)
In 6th grade we read a lame sci-fi story where a family left the solar system in a light sail ship. In minutes it was going so fast even tbe ground's "laser communications" couldn't keep up with it! Wow! I protested laser was light and went at the same speed as what the sail was using so that made no sense.
Charged solar particles? (Score:3)
Pretty sure light doesn't carry any charge...
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Pretty sure most of the components of solar wind do in fact carry a charge. But yeah, not photons, they can have spin and stuff, but not charge.
What is it that they think they are proving? (Score:2)
What new thing do they think they are doing? We have been able to calculate solar pressure force on satellites to within 5-10%, completely analytically, for 50 years. There is absolutely nothing consequential unknown about how applied forces chang
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Great that they are having a successful mission, but it's not investigating any new phenomenon.
You are correct. They are not investigating any new phenomenon. Good thing that is not the mission that they are on. F'rinstance,
1. ...designed to prove that solar sailing is a feasible way of keeping satellites moving. ...if LightSail 2 can prove that the solar-powered technique works well...
2.
Waste (Score:2)
Why waste time on flimsy solar sails who are payload and structure limited, when one can use M2P2?
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Because a M2P2 is only useful for traffic going outward of the solar system.
A solar sail can be tilted in any angle you want and that means you also can approach the inner planets, if that was the mission.
Watch for the charged particle sail (Score:1)
Too late at night to find the citation, but people are investigating using the net charge of a star system's solar wind for propulsion. It is the same rough idea as a solar sail, but instead of using light pressure you're using electrostatic repulsion/attraction.
Our own system's solar wind is positively charged (IIRC). A solar charge craft could have a 'sail' of very thin charged wires.. two major advantages to solar sails. Because the wires just sort of float in space, they're far less vulnerable to imp
What is the sense in this? There's no keel. (Score:2)
Assuming it even works what will function as the 'keel' in such a vessel? A keel is needed in a sailboat so you can actually sail in a direction other than the wind direction. It seems a keel equivalent could be rocket engines providing thrust in the correct directions (more than one since it's a 3-D problem vice the mainly 2-D situation of a boat in water). And those rocket engines would have to provide thrust 24-7 to maintain direction the entire trip. And that will require fuel so ....
Hypothetical si
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That issue is not so big. You simply adjust the sails all the time like a kite surfer.
And: you basically want to stay in the ecliptic for most missions.
If you had an odd goal, you would probably steer the craft first to a kind of starting position and from there straight outward.
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The keel or leeboard is provided by orbital mechanics which rotate the direction of thrust 90 degrees from the direction of travel. East takes you Out, Out takes you West, West takes you In, In takes you East. Port and Starboard bring you back.
You planning to sail upwind? (Score:2)
Tch tch tch ... so long as you sail mostly "downwind", you don't need no steeking keel!
Sail straight out from good old Sol (more or less). When you get halfway to your destination, turn 180 degrees and let your target sun slow you down.
Easy peasy. LOTS simpler than being a rocket scientist, I can assure you.