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ESA's 'interplanetary cargo ship' to carry Mars rocks to Earth in 2031
The Earth Return Orbiter is part of a long-term mission to search for ancient alien life on Mars.
30 July, 2020
ESA
- On July 30, NASA is set to launch the Perseverance rover toward Mars on a mission to search for biosignatures of ancient life within the planet's Jerezo Crater.
- The soil samples collected by the rover would then be launched from the Martian surface into orbit, where a European-made "cargo ship" will intercept the container.
- The cargo ship — a satellite called the Earth Return Orbiter — could return the samples to Earth for further study by 2031.
<p>Was Mars ever home to alien life? If so, scientists believe astrobiological evidence may lie in the ancient rocks and soil of the planet's Jezero Crater, where a lake existed 3.5 billion years ago.</p><p>Over the next decade, NASA and European space agencies plan to collect samples from the Jezero Crater and return them to Earth. The mission began at 7:50 a.m. EDT on Thursday, July 30, with the launch of NASA's Perseverance rover, which will embark on a seven-month journey to Mars.</p><p>The six-wheeled rover is set to descend to the Martian surface in February 2021. It will then start collecting rock and soil samples that could contain biosignatures of ancient microorganisms — a project that the European Space agency <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/05/Earth_Return_Orbiter" target="_blank">likens to an "interplanetary treasure hunt."</a> Perseverance, previously named the Mars 2020 rover, will store its samples in protective tubes, which it will leave behind for a smaller "fetch rover" to pick up on a future mission.</p><p>If all goes well, the fetch rover will transport the samples to a craft called the Mars Ascent Vehicle, which will launch a rocket containing the samples (protected inside of a basketball-sized container) into orbit. A satellite will then intercept the container. To do this, the satellite — an Airbus-France spacecraft dubbed <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/05/Earth_Return_Orbiter" target="_blank">Earth Return Orbiter</a> (ERO) — must carefully position itself to catch the container at the right moment. </p><p><a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25147/mission-overview-nasas-perseverance-mars-rover/" target="_blank">In 2031, the ERO will return to Earth</a>, where it will drop the container through our atmosphere to a landing site in North America.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMjEyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTg0NTQ5N30.yU7GOgl1yKVBQrIsnJCtXei1w3amkenWi9L8dsET8Pc/img.jpg?width=980" id="81efb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ba603b226216e7cc81ba632aa29adcc3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="\u200bJerezo Crater" />
Jerezo Crater landing site
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/University of Arizona via Wikimedia Commons
<p>It would be the first mission to return Martian matter to Earth.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"This is not just twice as difficult as any typical Mars mission; it's twice squared — when you think about the complexity involved," Dr. David Parker, the director of human and robotic exploration at the European Space Agency (ESA), told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/science-environment-53575353" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"And this satellite that Airbus will build - I like to call it 'the first interplanetary cargo ship', because that's what it will be doing. It's designed to carry cargo between Mars and Earth."</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMjEyNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTUyNzI3OX0.hJzI77izzkBGaIv5bH_4a4h8gkhd4yhyqESqpiEWB0o/img.png?width=980" id="fce37" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63c261cffd70b358796f6b4c3109ac41" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="ESA\u2019s Earth Return Orbiter" />
ESA's Earth Return Orbiter
ESA
<p>Finding signs of alien life isn't the rover's only function. The 2,300-pound Perseverance will be equipped with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a small 4-pound drone designed to help scientists learn more about the feasibility of achieving flight on Mars, a planet with an atmosphere that's <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/6-things-to-know-about-nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter/" target="_blank">99 percent less dense than Earth's</a>.</p><p>Perseverance will also carry technology designed to analyze the chemical composition of the Martian surface, study weather, take images of the Martian subsurface, and produce oxygen from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide — a proof-of-concept method that could someday allow astronauts to produce oxygen for rocket propellant or breathing.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMjEyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzIwOTIyMn0.74R7zZ_2P9DM3zKfe0rjecE0HaH1xJJ9-m6jUXt57wo/img.jpg?width=980" id="c030c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d7a5fd865bf823e03a110357f65696cc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Illustration of the Mars Ascent Vehicle" />
Illustration of the Mars Ascent Vehicle
NASA
<p>But Perseverance's main mission is to find signs of alien life. If it does, that would suggest that life may be relatively common throughout the universe, as Kenneth Farley, the project scientist for Perseverance and a professor at the California Institute of Technology, told <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/28/21307109/nasa-mars-rover-perseverance-launch-date-alien-life" target="_blank" style="">The Verge</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The central question of 'Is there life on other planets?' — it really comes down to: is the origination of life some kind of magic spark that happens only incredibly rarely, or alternatively, is it the kind of thing that is inevitable?" Farley said. "What we can do is we can go to such place in our own solar system on Mars and ask the question, 'Is life ubiquitous?'"</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6559e0323765ea9dd1bfe735f78a74c9"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RNnJBKR9lqY?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>You can watch the Perseverance launch on <a href="https://youtu.be/21X5lGlDOfg" target="_blank">NASA's YouTube channel</a> at 7:50 a.m. EDT on Thursday, July 30.</p>
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The world needs carbon-neutral flying. Here’s how to bring it one step closer.
We need electric planes, sustainable aviation fuels, and hybrid propulsion now, not later.
12 September, 2019
In the year when the Swedish word "flygskam" (flight-shaming) hit the news in Europe, public concern about carbon emissions from aviation is endangering the sector's social license to operate.
<p> Aviation is a critical sector that connects travelers and businesses across the globe, fosters economic growth and supports humanitarian missions. It is therefore important for the sector, in collaboration with all those who depend on it, to continue to do all it can to lead the way towards sustainable operations. With demand for flights projected to double over the next 15-20 years, 2019 could be the year that the industry, or at least the most progressive actors within it, define a pathway towards net-zero flying.</p><p>Over the last decade, the aviation sector has made progress in improving fuel efficiency through improved<a href="https://www.iata.org/publications/pages/technology-roadmap.aspx" target="_blank"> aircraft design</a> and operations. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) achieved an important milestone to limit emissions growth with the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (<a href="https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/CORSIA/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">CORSIA</a>), a globally agreed market-based measure to achieve carbon-neutral growth for international aviation from 2020.</p><p>Alongside these achievements, more options exist when it comes to managing aviation's carbon footprint. While electric planes – which could run at half the cost and noise of conventional aircraft – are a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/norway-electric-short-haul-flights-2040/" target="_blank">very real medium-term possibility</a> for smaller aircraft on short routes, they're likely not an option for widespread adoption on larger or long-haul flights due to low energy density of current battery technology.</p><p>Hybrid propulsion, whereby electric motors would provide initial thrust on take-off and landing for example, could on the other hand reduce emissions in medium- and long-haul flying, but this also will take years to make a substantial impact. This leaves sustainable aviation fuels, or SAF, as the most realistic option today for greener flying. SAF could come in various types of sustainable bio-fuels (derived from waste and not in competition with any food crops) that are in use already today. Synthetic fuels are another potential source, capturing CO2 during their production phase. SAF – which can reduce the carbon footprint of aviation fuel by <a href="https://www.atag.org/facts-figures.html" target="_blank">up to 80% over their full life cycle</a> – started testing on commercial-sized aircraft systems in 2008. As well as being cleaner than kerosene, another benefit of SAF is that they can be blended with conventional jet fuel, allowing for a gradual introduction into supply chains without the need for any expensive engine adaptation.</p><p>Air travel is centered around hubs.The fact that the 20 busiest airports in the world<a href="https://aci.aero/news/2019/03/13/preliminary-world-airport-traffic-rankings-released/" target="_blank"> handle nearly one-fifth</a> of all air passenger traffic should make it a lot easier for SAF to be adopted en masse by airlines. Yet, seven years after their introduction to commercial flights, they still account for less than <a href="https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2019/march/are-aviation-biofuels-ready-for-take-off.html" target="_blank">0.1% of total aviation fuel consumption</a>, with airlines struggling to break away from fossil fuels.</p><p>SAF will only be in a position to compete effectively with petroleum-based fuels when they can be produced in sufficient quantities. Overcoming this impasse requires a new form of collaboration between different stakeholders across the industry – including airlines, airport operators, aircraft manufacturers, energy companies, financial institutions, government, civil society groups and customers. We believe this is now beginning to change. As it does, there are three instruments that can help drive the process.</p><h2>1. The "Paris Buyers Club"</h2><p>One of the most chronic challenges facing sustainability efforts in almost any industry is reaching a consensus among the key players on who bears the inevitable costs. This is usually characterized by a "chicken and egg" scenario whereby producers and consumers are both either unwilling or unable to make the initial investment for new technologies to reach a scale where they are competitive with existing fossil fuel-derived options.</p><p>One idea that was discussed at a workshop organized by the World Economic Forum on the side-lines of this year's Paris Air Show suggests this impasse could soon be overcome. Bringing together all the key stakeholders, the suggestion was made that if significant number of large businesses that rely on air travel clubbed together, their collective demand for carbon-neutral travel could catalyse the ramping up of production of SAF. For example, the annual carbon offset budget of one international professional services firm alone could fund up to two new plants for production of SAF. In essence, this would provide in-sector offsets versus out-of-sector offsets such as planting trees, and still earn participating organizations the relevant carbon credits. This idea is not new. Several programmes for redirecting such climate investments currently exist, but there is potential now for forming a larger coalition of corporate actors who want to demonstrate their commitment to climate change and ensure their staff can continue flying at a relatively low cost.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTEwNjAzNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDU1NTk1OH0.y6DOnwm8PP8DyxhRWUdVytKFp3GTl8OE2a6DH7Gr0JA/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C26%2C0%2C180&height=700" id="8d8a8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="54726928c1cf763e59e3aee5a0cefa77" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The KLM airplane which runs on biokerose, a type of biofuel.
Lex Lieshout/AFP/Getty Images
<h2>2. Finance takes to the skies</h2><p>Such funding from corporate actors, or a collection of willing enterprises, could also be accumulated in a new type of investment fund, not unlike the<a href="https://oilandgasclimateinitiative.com/" target="_blank"> Oil and Gas Climate Initiative</a>. Through co-investment, the high risks associated with new refineries and related infrastructure can be lowered, and there can be greater confidence the SAF will be used once produced (referred to as "off-take agreements" in the industry). The more plants that are built, the cheaper the production process and fuel product becomes. The resulting SAF from new refineries may only be used several years after the initial investment, but the capital pooled in the investment fund could provide the initial push necessary to get the industry to 2% (or even higher) use of SAF by 2025. As was shown in the case of solar energy, this would be an important benchmark that raises the prospect for reaching price parity with conventional fuel and achieving a complete energy transition of the industry over the longer term.</p><p>Financial institutions could play a direct role themselves. The World Economic Forum's community of CEO Climate Leaders <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/business-is-stepping-up-its-fight-against-climate-change-this-is-how/" target="_blank">has made great strides</a> in reducing the carbon footprints of their businesses in order to help meet the Paris Climate Goals. Some of the CEOs represent banks that have taken active steps towards ceasing to provide funding for coal-fired power stations and other heavily polluting assets. More recently, stakeholders in the shipping industry have launched the Poseidon Principles, which sees 11 major banks commit to lending portfolios and practices that incentivise the transition to a decarbonised shipping industry. A similar approach in the airline industry could result in beneficial financing terms for operators that commit to progressive adoption of SAF.</p><h2>3. Supply</h2><p>If buyers' clubs have the potential to provide significant momentum through a demand-led approach, opportunities exist for supply-led stimulation as well. One option is for airport operators, in collaboration with their carriers, to make landing rights and lowered associated fees an incentive for driving sustainability. Airports faced with the need to expand in order to accommodate growing demand are under huge pressure to limit their environmental footprint or undertake net-zero growth. The beauty of blended biofuels means that airports could gradually ramp up the percentage of SAF provided to airlines, raising it slowly as global supply increases. That percentage could increase to double digits by the 2030s.</p><p>In addition, smart regulatory choices designed to make production and sale of SAF more attractive could help level the playing field with traditional petroleum-based fuels. In emerging economies, like India and Brazil, where there is an abundance of appropriate feed stocks, inexpensive solar and wind resources or land available for refineries, such incentives could serve to encourage investment into new supply chains and scale SAF production in the near to medium term.</p><p>The well-sequenced combination of nuanced demand- and supply-led innovations, alongside the emergence of new or improved technologies, presents the aviation industry with a much-needed opportunity to protect its social license to operate and grow in an age of increased awareness around carbon emissions. There is no time to lose.</p><p>Reprinted with permission of the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/carbon-neutral-flying/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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FAA warns that illegal weaponized drones will incur a $25K fine
The FAA is not amused by flame-throwing drones.
28 August, 2019
Image source: ThrowFlame
- Federal Aviation Administration publishes a notice warning the public not to weaponize their personal drones.
- Doing so will result in a $25,000 fine per violation.
- The FAA is keeping pace with the rapid development of this new and popular technology.
<p><br></p>
<p>Drones can be an incredible boon to society if properly utilized. Farmers can monitor their crops with them and public agencies can react faster to emergencies. And these are just a few of the possibilities drones grant us. This said, they may also be capable of incredible destruction. </p><p>Indeed, the United States Federal Aviation Administration <a href="https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=94424" target="_blank">recently published a notice</a> addressed to the public — and directed an email to all remote drone pilots — warning about the illegality of weaponizing a drone.</p><p>For the past several years, there's been a rapid increase in drone aircraft for both hobbyist and commercial purposes. The federal government has been trying to keep pace with the breakneck speed of drone innovation. They've put in place rules to ensure unmanned aerial vehicles don't interfere with commercial or military air traffic, while also making sure that all drone operators who engage in commercial services obtain a special Part 107 license.</p><p>It was only a matter of time before they'd have to regulate the weaponization of them as well.</p><p>Recently, a company called ThrowFlame made some waves when it announced its "TF-19" Wasp flamethrower attachment for drones. It works with most unmanned drones that can handle a payload of five pounds or more. ThrowFlame claims this isn't intended as a weapon. The FAA disagrees.</p>
FAA’s response to weaponized drones
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTA3NTUwMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDg4NzExNH0.JBaGB3nbJBeFUwaZ1-SDitu6G_yK6GoFZaUeg6sprsM/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C680%2C848%2C366&height=700" id="a58c5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="625c0101e209e7db15af306ad74f25d0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash
<p>Published under the title: "Drones and Weapons, A Dangerous Mix," FAA officials put forth some clear guidelines on the illegality of weaponizing drones without proper licensing:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Perhaps you've seen online photos and videos of drones with attached guns, bombs, fireworks, flamethrowers, and other dangerous items. Do not consider attaching any items such as these to a drone because operating a drone with such an item may result in significant harm to a person and to your bank account."</p><p>Just a single infraction will end up costing you $25,000. Unless you're a defense contractor or have another special case, it's doubtful you'd need to weaponize your drone.</p><p>Weaponizing a drone is in violation of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act, Section 363, which stipulates under the section "Prohibition Against Weapons," that "Unless authorized by the Administrator, a person may not operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system that is equipped or armed with a dangerous weapon."</p><p>A "dangerous weapon" includes any item that can be used or is capable of causing serious bodily harm, or death. Flamethrowers definitely fit the bill.</p><p>For a new technology like this for which the public is already a bit apprehensive about — it's probably best if we don't start throwing flamethrowers on them just because we can.</p>
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You might soon be travelling without a passport – this is how
Fingerprinting and facial recognition may lead the way in air travel.
18 July, 2019
The future of air travel is… paperless. Or will be, under an initiative introduced by the World Economic Forum.
<p>
The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-known-traveller-unlocking-the-potential-of-digital-identity-for-secure-and-seamless-travel" target="_blank">Known Traveller Digital Identity</a> (KTDI) programme will allow people to fly document-free between international destinations. Testing for the scheme is underway, and passengers enrolled in the pilot project will be able to travel between Canada and the Netherlands using their mobile phone instead of a passport.
</p><p>
Globally, the air travel system is under pressure as rising passenger numbers outstrip growth in airport capacity. KTDI aims to speed up the flow of passengers through airports and reduce the risk of cross-border identity fraud.
</p><p>
"By 2030, international air arrivals are expected to reach 1.8 billion passengers, up 50% from 2016. Under today's systems, airports cannot keep up with this growth," says Christoph Wolff, Head of Mobility at the World Economic Forum. "This project offers a solution. By using an interoperable digital identity and other KTDI technologies we are offering travellers a holistic answer to secure and seamless travel. This will shape the future of aviation and security."
</p><h4>Go with the flow</h4><p>
Passengers arriving at participating airports will already have their identity data encrypted and stored on their mobile phone, instead of on a passport microchip.
</p><p>
Relevant information is sent to airlines, border authorities and others before passengers reach the airport. Individual consent is needed each time data is sent, which gives travellers more control over their personal data than the existing passport system.
</p><p>
Using biometric technology – such as fingerprinting or facial recognition – passengers can enjoy seamless, and paperless, transit through departures, onto their flight and on arrival at their destination.
</p><h4>
A landmark moment
</h4><p>
Trials of the KTDI programme will run throughout 2019, with the first digitally documented end-to-end journey expected to take place in 2020.
</p><p>
Speeding the flow of passengers through the world's airports could ease the pressure on an industry facing rapid growth in the coming years.
</p><p><img alt=" " src="https://assets.weforum.org/editor/xs6utL5L0fGCgalYByWsUmaYaECjqoJmndeQbrUBXFk.png"><em>Image: UN World Tourism Organisation</em></p><p>
As the above chart shows, the number of international tourist arrivals is set to boom over the next decade.
</p><p>
Growth is set to be strongest in the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, accounting for 57% of all international arrivals in 2030.
</p><p>
The KTDI programme could help the aviation industry cope with this increase in passenger numbers. But adopting paperless travel on a global scale will not be without its challenges. </p><p>
Success will rest upon cooperation between world governments, technology providers, the aviation industry, border authorities and others, to establish global security and data protection standards for all stakeholders to comply with. </p><p>
The pilot scheme represents a unique collaborative effort between stakeholders in Canada and the Netherlands, which could become a model for others to follow and change the way air travel operates.
</p><p>
Reprinted with permission of the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/06/you-might-soon-be-travelling-without-a-passport-this-is-how/" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</p>
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Stand by the launch: The world's 1st orbiting light sail
An elegant, 400-year-old means of navigating the stars takes flight.
17 June, 2019
Image source: Planetary Society
- The Planetary Society is about to launch LightSail 2, a crowdfunded light sail craft.
- LightSail 2 uses photons from the sun as fuel.
- Space X's Falcom Heavy rocket will carry LightSail 2 aloft, 720 kilometers up.
<p>In a 1608 letter to his friend Galileo Galilei, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler described his idea for space travel thusly: </p><p>"<em>Provide ships or sails adapted to the heavenly breezes, and there will be some who will brave even that void</em>."</p><p>Observing one of the 75-year transits of Earth by what would come to be known as Halley's Comet, he'd correctly intuited that the widening of that comet's tail, or <em>coma</em>, was produced by sunlight pushing material out and away from the main object. </p><p>Kepler seemed to immediately see the possibilities — i.e., a light sail. </p><p>Now — no later than June 24, 2019, as of this writing — the <a href="http://www.planetary.org/" target="_blank">Planetary Society</a> will be launching what they hope will be the first controlled light sail ever to enter and maintain Earth orbit. Their crowdfunded <a href="http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/lightsail-solar-sailing/" target="_blank">Lightsail 2</a> will ride aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket departing from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a year-long orbit.</p><p>"This is history in the making — LightSail 2 will fundamentally advance the technology of spaceflight," says <a href="https://bigthink.com/u/bill-nye" target="_blank">Bill Nye</a>, CEO of the Planetary Society.</p>
Rising slowly
<p><u></u>The pieces of Kepler's dream have been falling into place bit by bit since that letter to Galileo. The discovery of photons in the late 1800s by James Clerk Maxwell revealed the energetic particles in light whose momentum could be transferred to other objects. </p><p>Friedrich Zander envisioned the "tremendous mirrors of very thin sheets" propelling craft through space, and then Carl Wiley foresaw a solar sail as a shiny, reflective, parachute-like material opening in the direction of sunlight.<br></p><p>By 1976, Carl Sagan went on TV to show off a demonstration model of a light sail craft, <a href="http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/video/lightsail-then-and-now.html" target="_blank">enthusing</a> about the amazing technology and its potential. </p><p>Among Sagan's students some 40 years ago was Nye, a frequent Big Think contributor. The Society was founded by Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman in 1980. In 2005, the Society launched the world's first light sail craft, the Cosmos 1, aboard a submarine-based ICBM. Unfortunately, it was lost when the ICBM failed before allowing Cosmos 1 a chance to fly on its own.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fCMQEUU4LHs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>About the Planetary Society
<p>The Planetary Society is the world's largest non-profit space organization, crowdfunded by over 50,000 members from over 100 countries, and supported by hundreds of volunteers. The Society was founded as outlet for the general public's interest in space, a level of interest not always reflected in governmental budgets. In addition to mounting <a href="http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/" target="_blank">projects</a> such as the LightSail craft, the Society serves as an educational connection between the scientific community and the general public, advocates for robust governmental funding of space programs, and provides anyone an opportunity to get involved in some real space science.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1gny4Q9Kcl0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>The Society’s Lightsail craft
<p>At the center of each frankly beautiful LightSail craft is a cubesat. While we tend to think of satellites as large, bus-sized objects, they can be much smaller for simpler missions. The cubesat for the upcoming LightSail 2, for example, is about the size of a loaf of bread.</p><p>At launch, the cubesat and sails are encased in four solar panels. Once in orbit, the panels swing up into operational position, exposing the cubesat and stored sails.</p><p>The sails themselves are four shiny Mylar sheets 4.5 microns thick — that's thinner than a human hair. They're next pulled outward by four cobalt-alloy booms that extend like tape measures. The process takes about three minutes. When deployed, the triangular sails together form a square that's just 32 square meters, about the size of a boxing ring.</p><p>The primary force to be overcome by LightSail craft is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_decay" target="_blank">atmospheric drag</a>, its collision with gas particles in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Think of it as friction that causes a satellite to slow and thus drop from orbit. In order for a craft to catch enough photon "propellant" — and to be high enough to get away from the upper atmosphere, its orbit needs to be above about 700 kilometers. </p><p>The Society has built two LightSail craft.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTYwMTYyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTc1NjgxNH0.nC9Si08mHK3gUxnhzrx5vCfQvqn54-NKDgJd5MrbZoE/img.jpg?width=980" id="f70fe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a14aa054fcb1627f154a0d9aa94923a1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Image source: Planetary Society
LightSail 1
<p>Around 2014, NASA offered the Society a free ride aboard an Atlas V rocket as part of the agency's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program. Even though the Lightsail craft would be placed into orbit below the necessary 700-kilometer height, the Society decided to use one of their LightSails to test the mechanics of the sail deployment system. </p><p>Dubbed "LightSail 1," the sails successfully unfurled, as this selfie taken by LightSail 1 attests.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTYwNTAwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjI5Mzg1Nn0.wPhIRmAjQ10Jcs56O1-F1icM-3lO24MqUkl-L1Htk1Y/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=309%2C158%2C0%2C315&height=700" id="dabdd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dbaf58e3c941d930d4bcbfc840a0215d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Image source: Planetary Society
And now LightSail 2
<p>The second craft, now known and "LightSail 2," was slightly modified — particularly its software — according to insights gleaned during the first mission. It's scheduled as of this writing to go up from Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this month aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy as part of the U.S. Air Force's STP-2 mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.</p><p>This time, LightSail 2 will be carried within another, slightly larger satellite, Prox-1, developed by students at Georgia Tech. The Prox-1 will be placed into orbit around 720 meters up, and a week later will launch LightSail 2.</p><p>After a few days of diagnostics, LightSail 2 will open up its solar arrays, and then a day later, unfurl its sails. Over the next month, it will continually re-position its sails relative to the sun to raise its orbit — this is the main part of the mission, the actual solar sailing. </p><p>Mission complete, the craft will orbit for about a year before drag takes its toll, and LightSail 2 burns up plummeting down through the atmosphere. During this year, its position will be tracked via <a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2018/20180425-pew-pew-lightsail.html" target="_blank">ground-based laser ranging</a>, and it may be visible to the naked eye. The Society will offers an online dashboard that can tell you where and when to look up to se this most elegant spacecraft.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gUEuMQivNOo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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