Tag: Planetary Society
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LightSail team declares success in solar sail experiment
This image was taken by a camera aboard the LightSail 2 satellite during the solar sail deployment sequence at 1849 GMT (2:49 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, July 23. Credit: The Planetary Society The gentle push of sunlight is slowly changing the orbit of the Planetary Society’s crowd-funded LightSail 2 satellite after it unfurled a thin…
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Planetary Society hails ‘mission success’ after LightSail 2 solar sail raises its orbit
This image was taken during the LightSail 2 sail deployment sequence on July 23. Baja California and Mexico are visible in the background. This image has been de-distorted and color corrected. (Planetary Society Photo / CC BY-NC 3.0) It may be “mission accomplished” for the Planetary Society’s solar sail experiment, but its privately funded LightSail…
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Privately-funded spacecraft now solar sailing in Earth orbit
This image was taken by a camera aboard the LightSail 2 satellite during the solar sail deployment sequence at 1848 GMT (2:48 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, July 23, over Baja California. Credit: The Planetary Society A nanosatellite launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket last month has unfurled a solar sail membrane and is using light…
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LightSail 2 unfurls in orbit, marking the climax of solar sail experiment
An artist’s conception shows LightSail 2’s four triangular solar sails fully deployed in orbit. (Planetary Society Illustration / Josh Spradling) The nonprofit Planetary Society says its LightSail 2 experiment spread out its solar sails today, nearly a month after it took a piggyback ride to orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Following through on…
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Destination Phobos: ‘Humans Orbiting Mars’ report goes public
An artist’s conception shows as astronaut’s-eye view of Mars from Phobos, one of its moons. (Credit: Planetary Society) The nonprofit Planetary Society has laid out a detailed blueprint for sending astronauts to the Martian moon Phobos in 2033 and then touching down on Mars itself beginning in 2039. The blueprint released Tuesday is based on a “Humans…
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LightSail hailed as precursor for low-cost planetary missions
A camera aboard LightSail took this picture of the deployed solar sail. Credit: The Planetary Society Managers in charge of the privately-funded LightSail solar sail in Earth orbit said Wednesday the success of the experiment is a step toward opening up the solar system to scores of modest science probes that could explore space at…
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Satellite comes back to life, deploys solar sail on second try
Artist’s concept of LightSail backdropped by the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: The Planetary Society Mission managers say the shoebox-sized LightSail satellite powered up its tiny deployment motor Sunday, and data from the diminutive spacecraft indicate its experimental solar sail unfurled in orbit hundreds of miles above Earth. The deployment sequence began at 3:47 p.m. EDT…
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Ground team battling on-and-off communications with LightSail
LightSail’s solar sail undergoes a deployment test on the ground in September 2014. Credit: Justin Foley/The Planetary Society After an up-and-down week of intermittent contact with the LightSail satellite, the tiny spacecraft radioed home Saturday, giving engineers hope to deploy the experiment’s solar sail as soon as Sunday. The deployment window opens at approximately 2:02…
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LightSail deployment set for this week
Updated June 2. Artist’s concept of the LightSail spacecraft after deployment of the solar sail. Credit: The Planetary Society The Planetary Society’s LightSail spacecraft is back in contact with ground controllers after nine days of radio silence triggered by a suspected software glitch, and engineers plan to send the command to unfurl the tiny satellite’s…
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Have you tried restarting? Bill Nye’s LightSail needs a reboot due to software glitch
An artist rendition of what the LightSail will look like if it can be deployed Update, Saturday evening: LightSail spacecraft reboots in orbit: ‘It’s alive!’ says Bill Nye A glitch with a spreadsheet file has caused Bill Nye’s LightSail satellite to stop responding. With no communication, the Planetary Society may have to wait for a cosmic…