LIGHTSAIL Solar Sailing Spacecraft
by Mollie Collings
40 years ago
• The late astronomer Carl Sagan proposed a spacecraft propelled only
by the sun
5…4…3…2…1…BLAST OFF
May 2015 the LightSail hitched a ride aboard Altas V rocket
• Testing the sail deployment sequence
• Snapping pictures
*currently the LightSail has been unable to send pictures back but data looks
good
On May 20, 2015, our first LightSail prototype launched from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas
V rocket.
What’s Next?In 2016 LightSail will be released into orbit
447 miles above Earth
Communicating with ground stations
Sending back photos
LightSail will be with another spacecraft called Prox-1 taking
images
The LightSail’s core is called a CubeSat
What is a CubeSat? A cube-shaped satellite
Measures 4x4x4 inches (10x10x10 centimeters). You can hold one in the palm of your hand.
They weigh roughly a
couple of pounds
Can be clustered together launching several at a time.
The Mylar sail is folded and tucked in the bottom of the CubeSat - just a quarter the thickness of a trash bag – will span
more than 345 square
LIGHTSAIL TEAM MEMBERS PREPARE THE SPACECRAFT FOR A
SAIL DEPLOYMENT TEST.
Solar sails use the sun’s energy as a method of propulsion - flight by
light. Light is made of packets of energy called
photons
a photon traveling as a packet of light has energy and momentum.
The photons reflect off the sail, transferring momentum
LightSail is a citizen-funded project by The Planetary Society, a non-
profit organization devoted to space exploration
BILL NYE, CEO OF THE PLANETARY SOCIETY