Tag: LightSail
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Photos: Atlas 5 sets sail to orbit
A windowless, robotic space shuttle with stubby wings, two tail fins, its belly covered with black thermal tiles, clam-shell doors that swing open to reveal a small payload bay and a solar array that unfurls for powering ultralong-duration missions rode back into orbit Wednesday on the fourth mission of the Air Force’s reusable X-37B spaceplane…
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Launch story: X-37B embarks on fourth voyage in orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL — A windowless, robotic space shuttle with stubby wings, two tail fins, its belly covered with black thermal tiles, clam-shell doors that swing open to reveal a small payload bay and a solar array that unfurls for powering ultralong-duration missions rode back into orbit Wednesday on the fourth mission of the Air Force’s…
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Citizen-funded CubeSat ready to go solar sailing
Credit: Josh Spradling / The Planetary Society A shoebox-sized satellite conceived and funded by members of the Planetary Society, an advocacy organization co-founded by Carl Sagan, is fastened to an Atlas 5 rocket for launch Wednesday to test one of the late celebrity-astronomer’s futuristic concepts for exploring the cosmos. Sagan and other proponents of solar…
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Photos: Atlas 5 on the pad for X-37B launch
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket stands poised for flight with the Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane and a batch of CubeSats including the LightSail. The rocket was rolled to Complex 41 on Tuesday in preparation for launch on Wednesday. Photo credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now