Author Topic: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement  (Read 10640 times)

Offline QuantumG

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Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« on: 07/10/2014 12:56 am »
Tune in Wednesday July 9 at 7:00 pm PDT, to planetary.org for a major live announcement!

There was a slip up with embargoed info, so a few of us who shouldn't already know what they're going to announce.

Should be good. For anyone who needs motivation to watch: it involves SpaceX.

Here's some more info: http://www.scpr.org/events/2014/07/09/1439/planetary-society/

Quote
The Planetary Society returns to the Crawford Family Forum with an evening devoted to the revolutionary potential of solar sailing.  It has been called the only practical way to reach the stars, but driving spacecraft across the solar system with the pressure of sunlight also offers big advantages over traditional rocket engines. Closer to home, it offers access to unique orbits for vital Earth science and space weather missions. 

LightSail will spread its silver wings once it reaches orbit, becoming visible to nearly everyone on Earth as it demonstrates this promising new technology for space travel.  Host Mat Kaplan of Planetary Radio will be joined by Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy for a conversation with the designers and engineers behind the Society’s tiny yet highly innovative “cubesat,” along with the history and promise of solar sailing.  The evening will climax with an exciting announcement about how LightSail will begin its journey.
Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

Offline IslandPlaya

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #1 on: 07/10/2014 01:06 am »
Oh noes! It involves Bill 'I know nothing about nowt, but I have a bow-tie' Nye and doesn't involve the knowledgeable and gorgeous Emily Lakdawalla.
Shame.
I'll let you guys tell me how it goes...
 :(

Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #2 on: 07/10/2014 01:08 am »
Consider it a drinking game. Whenever Bill Nye says something factually incorrect or fails to answer a question that you could type into Google and get right on the first answer, take a shot!
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 01:12 am by QuantumG »
Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

Offline IslandPlaya

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #3 on: 07/10/2014 01:16 am »
I'm already too drunk for that sort of nonsense! I'll end up dead before the end of the webcast...

Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #4 on: 07/10/2014 02:03 am »
.. and the embargo is lifted.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2014/lightsail-update-launch.html

Quote from: Jeff Foust
Let's try this again: The Planetary Society is announcing tonight they will launch their LightSail solar sail on a Falcon Heavy in 2016.

LightSail will be deployed from another smallsat, Prox-1 from Georgia Tech, into MEO; presumably flying as secondary payloads on the FH.

The society's release adds that a "test flight of LightSail on a smaller rocket may also be conducted in 2015" in LEO.
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 03:35 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #5 on: 07/10/2014 02:11 am »


Bill Nye and Jim Bell.
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 03:32 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #6 on: 07/10/2014 02:12 am »
Playing the old Falcon Heavy video. Bill Nye incorrectly referring to the "Falcon 9 Heavy". No-one has corrected him so far.

"Spring of 2016".

Okay, Bill has been corrected :)
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 02:13 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #7 on: 07/10/2014 02:22 am »
Doug Stetson via Skype. Project lead of LightSail.
 
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 02:31 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #8 on: 07/10/2014 02:28 am »
Solar sailing in LEO.
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #9 on: 07/10/2014 02:30 am »
Prox-1 will deploy LightSail and interact with it to test proximity operations.

i.e., rendezvous, fly-around, imaging.

As a result, LightSail got a free ride to a high orbit and will also get high resolution imaging.
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 02:36 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #10 on: 07/10/2014 02:35 am »
Timeline.

Quote from: Jeff Foust
The possible earlier test flight of LightSail would be circa May '15 (as a secondary payload on an Atlas V through NASA's ELaNa program.)
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 02:37 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #11 on: 07/10/2014 02:41 am »
Host Mat Kaplan: Producer of Planetary Radio
Barbara Plante: Cubesat Engineer, Boreal Space/Ecliptic Enterprises
and Bill Nye.
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 02:50 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #12 on: 07/10/2014 02:43 am »
Some of the sail is being passed around. It folds up real small.
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #13 on: 07/10/2014 02:47 am »
.. and folds out. They're using the Earth's magnetic field to do attitude control. I guess at some point they'll talk about what you'd do in deep space.

Quote from: Jeff Foust
I haven't heard what the Falcon Heavy primary payload for the LightSail mission is, but I'd guess the STP-2 mission for the Air Force.

Some more information on the Georgia Tech website: http://www.css.gatech.edu/projects.html
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 02:52 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #14 on: 07/10/2014 02:55 am »
Talk about "detumbling" and "tipoff". You HAMs can listen in on 437 Mhz.
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 02:56 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #15 on: 07/10/2014 03:02 am »
David Brin, sci-fi author, joins via Skype to talk about the potential of solar sails.
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #16 on: 07/10/2014 03:13 am »
Now taking questions from the audience. I missed the name of this audience member who is describing some other solar sail programs that are going on.

Ahh, that's Robert L. Staehle.

Question about sail material. It's Mylar.

Question about how visible from the ground it will be. Non-answer given. Should be much more visible than usual satellites.

Quote from: Jeff Foust
The Planetary Society release said LightSail would go to MEO, but also described the orbit as 720 km—too low for any usual MEO definition.

Question about cost. About $4M. Need another $500k.

Question about what happens to LightSail after the mission is complete. 2015 mission will deorbit quickly. 2016 mission will stay up for a long time.
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 03:25 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #17 on: 07/10/2014 03:28 am »
Jason Davis, embedded journalist in the LightSail project.

Hoping to launch a "microsite" for the project at planetary.org.

More at: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/
« Last Edit: 07/10/2014 03:29 am by QuantumG »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #18 on: 07/10/2014 03:30 am »
.. and that's it. Trivia, What's Up, astronomy.
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Offline IslandPlaya

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Re: Planetary Society LightSail Announcement
« Reply #19 on: 07/10/2014 10:18 am »
Thanks for the commentary QG.
Should be an interesting and potentially important mission.

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