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posted by Fnord666 on Friday July 05 2019, @08:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the next-step-in-advertising dept.

LightSail 2 Sends Back 1st Signals from Its Solar-Surfing Test Flight

The space advocacy organization The Planetary Society recently confirmed that its LightSail 2 spacecraft has sent its first signals home from space.

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.

[...] Once the cubesat deploys its solar sail early next week, the rays from the sun will give LightSail 2 a gentle push. The goal is to observe LightSail 2 over the course of a month to see if it shifts in its orbit by a measurable amount, according to The Planetary Society officials. That will help demonstrate that solar sailing is an effective satellite-propulsion technique.

In other news, 'Oumuamua is not an alien light sail, probably.

See also: What's the Difference between LightSail 1 and LightSail 2?
First Contact! LightSail 2 Phones Home to Mission Control
See the Latest Data from LightSail 2 on Our New Mission Control Dashboard (here)

Previously: Planetary Society's "LightSail" Solar Sail Test Launch on May 20
Lightsail Update: Back in Communication
Planetary Society's LightSail Has Finally Deployed After Multiple Setbacks
One Legacy of Carl Sagan May Take Flight Next Week—a Working Solar Sail
Falcon Heavy to Launch STP-2; 4-Hour Window Opens @ 2019-06-25 2:30am EDT (2019-06-25 0630 UTC)


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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 05 2019, @09:35PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 05 2019, @09:35PM (#863649)

    They appear to have overlooked the fact that light diminishes as you move away from the sun... so its speed will diminish every day as it moves further away. And what about the fact that the spaceship will stop moving at night when it's dark, which will double the time of any journey.

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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 05 2019, @10:19PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 05 2019, @10:19PM (#863665)

    The spacecraft has a nightlight for when it's dark.

  • (Score: 2) by dwilson on Friday July 05 2019, @10:48PM

    by dwilson (2599) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 05 2019, @10:48PM (#863672) Journal

    After reading your comment, this [youtube.com] is the only thing that came to mind. Well done.

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    - D