My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica: The Planetary Society LightSail Cubesat deploys Solar Sail – Why Surfing the Solar Wind is now on @NASA agenda

Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Planetary Society LightSail Cubesat deploys Solar Sail – Why Surfing the Solar Wind is now on @NASA agenda

“This version of LightSail can't gain enough thrust from the sun to overcome the drag of the atmosphere at its current altitude, so it will fall back to Earth in the next few days. But the technical difficulties it encountered will inform the launch of a second version of the spacecraft, bound for a higher orbit next year” 

Dr. Jacob Aron commenting in the New Scientists after confirming that LightSail Cubesat Solar Sails had been deployed on Monday June 9th 2015

Dear reader, wouldn’t it be cool to ride some waves right now? Probably you're thinking I'm talking about Waves in the Ocean, but they aren't the only waves that exist in the Universe.

I'm of course alluding to the successful deployment of the Solar Sails of the LightSail Cubesat (Cube Satellites) on Monday May 8th 2015 that was launched into orbit by The Planetary Society as reported in the article “LightSail's Solar sails look good in latest deployment”, published June 9th 2015, by Bancy Owano, Physorg


The mission, which has now ended a few hours ago with the LightSail Cubesat breaking apart in the Earth’s upper atmosphere as stated in the article “Farewell, LightSail: Satellite Watchers Say Solar Sail Fades Away”, published JUN 14 2015, NBC News was a success after only a year worth of planning!

The Planetary Society can make this boast, as mission controllers in contact with their Cubesat, downloaded this image confirming that it had indeed deployed. Now, like the graceful phoenix, it dies a fiery death, marking the birth of Carl Sagan’s dream of using Solar Sails as a means of propulsion as stated in the article “LightSail Test Mission Ends with Fiery Reentry”, published 2015/06/15 By Jason Davis, The Planetary Society.

The deployment of the LightSail Cubesat's Solar Sails was confirmed by Jason Davis of The Planetary Society on Monday May 8th 2015, quote: “It's official: The sails are out. This afternoon, LightSail mission controllers downlinked a partial image of the spacecraft's 32-m Solar sails in space”. 

This after making contact with the LightSail Cubesat on Saturday June 6th 2015, quote: “On Saturday The Planetary Society made contact with LightSail again, and issued the command to unfurl the sail. On Sunday the craft sent back data confirming the sail deployed successfully”.



So what the big fuss about a Cubesat that’s catching some rays in the Vacuum of space? Well, aside from the coolness factor, it proves once and for all that you can ride the Solar Wind!

LightSail Cubesat deploys Solar Sail – Why Cubesats are a University’s Best Ticket to Space

Their experimental satellite was launched in a bid to prove the practicality of making spacecraft that can travelling via light Pressure, the force exerted by the Solar wind emanating from our

Sun. It is this same Solar wind, which is really a stream of Light and charged particles that causes the tails of comets to point away from the Sun and not be aligned to the orbit of the comet.



Simple as that!

Cubesats, basically oblong shaped satellites often powered by smartphone are a perfect way to prove this theory.

They are small in mass and potentially easier for the Solar Wind to push once a large enough Solar Sail is deployed. Also, due to their negligible mass, it makes it possible to use cubesats to measure and calculate the exact strength of the Solar Wind hitting the Earth’s upper Atmosphere.

Finally, because the processing power is supplied by a smartphone in most cases, they can be easily built by Universities employing a mini-army of college graduate and Post-Doctoral Students who do it for the glory of being published in a Journal.

Add on the cost of adding the cubesat as a payload on a scheduled Rocket launch at NASA or the ESA (European Space Station), the price easily comes in under US$250,000 to launch one of these mini-satellites, easily affordable for a typical, well-funded University.

The Planetary Society kickstarted the LightSail– Solar Sail can potentially carry Payload Vehicles

The Planetary Society, which is made up of many Astronomers and space scientists such as Dr. Neil de Grasse of COSMOS Fame, reasoned logically that this Solar wind could be used a source of Propulsion.  Hence they kickstarted the idea of the LightSail Cubesat as shown in the YouTube Video below!




It may even potentially making it possible to launch satellites at a fraction of the cost possible, conserving on the amount of fuel needed for trips to the Moon or even Mars. To quote  Dr. Jacob Aron in New Scientist, this is a “…….a potentially cheap way of exploring the Solar system, but few have been tested in orbit. They work by reflecting photons from the sun, providing a small thrust in the opposite direction. The force from each reflected photon is tiny, but a large enough sail can build up significant momentum”.



How? Quite simply really!

The Payload Vehicle would be launched en route to the Moon or Mars at the right escape velocity using conventional Rocket System. Once deployed and the course is laid towards the Moon or Mars using conventional Rockets, the Payload Vehicle would then unfurl a much bigger Solar Sail.

This would then take over and with minor adjustments like a sailor on a ship with a Lateen Sail on the high seas, adjust its angle to be perpendicular to the Solar wind to maximize on the thrust. 



Alternatively, the Rocket containing the Payload Vehicle can be launched into orbit using a stratospheric balloon slung at an angle similar to the one described in my blog article entitled “Patria Kay-Aarons in Space – How the CVM TV Weather Girl can become Jamaica’s first Astronaut”.

Once on the edge of the Stratosphere, before the Stratospheric balloons burst, the Payload Vehicle Rockets would then kick in, launching the Payload Vehicle until it reached the desired orbit. Then as it lays in the course towards the Moon or Mars, the Payload Vehicle would then unfurl a much bigger Solar Sail, making course adjustments to guide the craft in the right direction.

Good to note here that a Solar Sail can only work as far as the orbit of the Mars, as beyond that, the Solar Wind becomes very weak and exerts very little pressure. So this is really for regular trip to the Moon or Mars, once we’ve established colonies on those planets.

Why Surfing the Solar Wind is now on NASA agenda – Jamaica can launch Solar Satellite too

Already NASA, who are sharing information with The Planetary Society through the Space Act Agreement, is interested in the outcome of this mission. They have plans to launch two (2) Solar Sail Powered Cubesats in 2018:

1.      Lunar Flashlight
2.      NEA Scout

Why so long NASA? Albeit The Planetary Society’s LightSail Cubesat will fall prey to Gravity's pull and fall back into the earth's atmosphere, burning up on re-entry, should it not be inspiration to push the launch of those  CubeSats ahead to 2016, seeing as The Planetary Society actually kickstarted the LightSail into Orbit instead of riding on an expensive and bloated budget?



Also, seeing as how the LightSail Cubesat was kickstarted, doesn’t it imply that countries like Jamaica can potentially launch their own Cubesats without Rockets as I’d explained above?

After all, you only need to get up to the Thermosphere and you’re basically in Space. Once a Stratospheric balloon carries you up to the Stratosphere slung at an angle, the Rockets can ignite and take it up into orbit from there.

NASA, thoughts to ponder......

Here's the link:




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