tuckstar Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Carl Sagan would be proud. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113389042/lightsail-spacecraft-set-for-first-test-flight-051215/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 As would Arthur C Clarke, as the title of his short story - Sunjammer - was to be used for the name of the recently cancelled NASA test version. tuckstar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Looks interesting Andy, it also says that it should be visible from the ground as it orbits the Earth. One to watch out for if more info is made available on orbit path... Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Best place for info is here...... http://sail.planetary.org/ The Planetary Society are the guys and gals who have put their time in, this is the official site for the project. tuckstar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Nice one Daz! An interesting site... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Got this one as well, if viewed on a smart phone, it tells you when next you can observe the solar sail, passing times ETC..... http://sail.planetary.org/missioncontrol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Thanks Daz, That is a good link! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 So at long last and after numerous set backs, by a pure fluky chance (although one that they were 95% confident would happen) Light Sail has unfurled it sail and it operating nominally. Unlike most OS systems on board a spacecraft, the Light Sail is using a bog standard Linux / Unix OS and encountered it's first major fault within a few days of being deployed, the fault being it backlogged far too much data and then promptly froze, not a problem back here on Earth where a simple reset would solve all issues, but out in space, there is no one to hit reset. With the craft unable to send anything back or receive any new instructions, the chaps at the Planetary Society hoped good old nature would come to the rescue and sure enough, it did! Keeping the costs down on these types of missions means deploying your craft with little or no protection from cosmic rays, meaning on average, every 8-10 days, your craft receives a hit from a cosmic ray on one of it's key components, forcing a shut down and re-boot and sure enough, some time Saturday night into Sunday morning, the Light Sail received a cosmic ray hit, which resulted in the systems resetting and communication was once more possible with the Earth. So on Sunday (yesterday) they unfurled the sail and all is well. Keep an eye to the sky's people, we should be able to spot it now that the sail is deployed. tuckstar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 the fault being it backlogged far too much data and then promptly froze, Sounds suspiciously like a 1201 alarm to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Latest news from an hour or so ago..... @jasonrdavis: LightSail current status unknown. Next ground station pass 6/15 12:27 a.m. EDT - quite possible it will have reentered by then. Shame but that's what these primary missions are designed to shake out, all the little flaws in the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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