Collaborate Disseminate
NASA’s ACS3 (Advanced Composite Solar Sail System) is currently fully deployed in low Earth orbit, and stargazers can spot it if they know what to look for. It’s actually one …read more Continue reading Watch NASA’s Solar Sail Reflect Brightly in the Night Sky
The world’s most advanced solar sail spacecraft began its odyssey today at 23:32 GMT as it lifted off atop a Rocket Lab Electron launcher from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. It was one of two payloads on the Beginning Of The Swarm mission.Cont… Continue reading World’s most advanced solar sail rockets into space
NASA is gearing up to launch an advanced solar sail spacecraft later this month. Using a new boom made of lightweight polymer composites, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is scheduled to lift off on April 24.Continue ReadingCategory: Space, Sci… Continue reading Advanced solar sail mission prepares to catch the wind in the void of space
NASA is gearing up to launch an advanced solar sail spacecraft later this month. Using a new boom made of lightweight polymer composites, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is scheduled to lift off on April 24.Continue ReadingCategory: Space, Sci… Continue reading Advanced solar sail mission prepares to catch the wind in the void of space
After more than three years circling the Earth, the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission has come to an end following a fiery reentry. The satellite was an important tech demo for the idea of solar sailing, which could eventually propel spacecraft t… Continue reading LightSail 2 mission reaches fiery end after 3-year solar sailing demo
NASA has selected a fascinating new project for further development, known as the Diffractive Solar Sail. By bending light before it hits the sail, this device could propel spacecraft more efficiently than conventional propulsion technologies.Continue … Continue reading NASA’s new solar sail design bends light to propel spacecraft efficiently
We’ve talked about project Breakthrough Starshot which aims to send a solar sail probe to Alpha Centauri within 20 years. A little basic math and knowing that Alpha Centauri is …read more Continue reading In 2045: Alpha Centauri
ESA engineers are looking at using the world’s thinnest known material to build lighter, more efficient solar sails. By making sails out of one-atom-thick graphene sheets, the space agency aims to make sails capable of propelling unmanned interstellar … Continue reading Graphene shows promise as solar sail material in ESA tests
It appears to be all smooth sailing for The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2, with the history-making CubeSat now propelling itself through space on sunlight alone. The nonprofit announced today that after unfurling its solar sail last week, t… Continue reading Lightsail 2 makes history by using sunlight to propel itself onto a new orbital path
After launching into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket last month, The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 satellite has now entered the most critical phase of its mission. The spacecraft has successfully unfurled its solar sail and begun… Continue reading LightSail 2 deploys its sail and enters solar surfing mode