“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:
NASA Twitter Feed: @NASA
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