LightSail, Planetary Society's Solar Sail mission (Redux) |
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LightSail, Planetary Society's Solar Sail mission (Redux) |
 Nov 9 2009, 09:02 PM
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#1
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 Senior Member  Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345  |
-------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Nov 9 2009, 09:26 PM
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#2
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14448 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
YAY!! Thank you anonymous donator!!
I'm glad has grown up a bit, is bigger, and we'll all be around to enjoy this - it's a special project in so many ways. |
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Nov 9 2009, 09:50 PM
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#3
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
I was wondering what they were about to announce, and for me this is the best announcement they could possibly have made. As a planetary society member but not a millionnaire I have to choose carefully between the many good projects for which they solicit contributions. This is the one towards which my unavoidably modest contribution was the most heartfelt. The technology will be elegant and clean, yet the scope of imagination and ambition that lies behind it is truly breathtaking. I hope this time their diamond in the sky will fly - and inspire millions young and old as it should.
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| Guest_PhilCo126_* |
Nov 10 2009, 11:53 AM
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#4
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Guests |
What a way to commemorate the late Dr Carl Sagan... who's more beloved nowadays than ever before!
Deploying the solar sail will be the hardest bit of the mission, so all the best to the mission! |
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Nov 11 2009, 01:58 AM
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#5
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Nice little article on Reuters....go, TPS, go, LightSail!!!!
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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| Guest_PhilCo126_* |
Nov 11 2009, 03:38 PM
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#6
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Guests |
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Nov 11 2009, 08:57 PM
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#7
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 447 Joined: 1-July 05 From: New York City Member No.: 424 |
There's a longer article in the New York Times, with some nice graphics. There's also an interesting -- but extremely negative -- comment from a reader who says he worked on solar sails at jpl and claims that the experiment won't show anything.
TTT |
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Nov 11 2009, 09:15 PM
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#8
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Not necessarily a bad thing. Thoughful technical criticism is valuable regardless of the source, and this is free to boot!
 Nobody ever sees all aspects of an issue, which is one reason why systems engineering was invented.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Nov 12 2009, 02:35 PM
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#9
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 Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1374 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
"humans may soon be solar-sailing".
Who on Earth can create such a stupid misleading comment for an artists impression ? |
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Nov 12 2009, 04:00 PM
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#10
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Depends on your definition of "soon".
Given new developments in materials technology, radiation protection technology, and space habitation technology I could imagine lofting up a self-supporting station using a massive (multi-thousand km) solar sail for a long voyage. But I think we're still a few generations off....(but I'd love to be proved wrong.) (Fun fact: the entire Wright brothers flight could have occured inside a Boeing 747. Could the general public have imagined a 400 person passenger jet routinely traversing the Pacific at 37,000 feet back in the late 1800's?) Baby steps... -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Nov 12 2009, 07:56 PM
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#11
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
Also depends on what you mean by 'solar sailing'. After all you can fly a kite or sail a model boat without being on board. My gripe is with the artwork itself. It appears to show a wrinkly surface on the sail panels yet the Earth's reflection is not broken up accordingly. Fortunately both the artwork and the caption pale into insignificance beside the fact that the project is going ahead.
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Nov 13 2009, 04:57 AM
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#12
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
Re: "humans may soon be solar-sailing"
The illustration is of the very light sail that the Planetary Society hopes to fly by 2011. So, yes, the humans at the Planetary Society will hopefully be solar-sailing soon. Vicariously to be sure. By the way, google the artist, he seems quite accomplished. "LightSail-1 will have four triangular sails, arranged in a diamond shape resembling a giant kite.... We plan to design, develop, build and test the LightSail-1 spacecraft so that it can be ready for launch by the end of 2010."
Artists rendition of LightSail-1 by Rick Sternbach. Credit: Planetary Society |
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Nov 13 2009, 05:18 AM
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#13
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Nov 12 2009, 08:57 PM)  By the way, google the artist, he seems quite accomplished. Oh, yes...you could definitely say that. 
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Nov 13 2009, 08:44 AM
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#14
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14448 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
I will say - having tried in the past a bit - doing animations of stuff like reflective foil in deep space - it's a big challenge.
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Nov 13 2009, 09:07 AM
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#15
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 The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Nov 13 2009, 04:57 AM) By the way, google the artist, he seems quite accomplished. ... and recently posted here on UMSF, by the way... -------------------- |
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