LightSail is a solar sail project developed by The Planetary Society, a global non-profit organization devoted to space exploration. Bill Nye, CEO of The Planetary Society has launched a Kickstarter campaign for LightSail Spacecraft.
LightSail is a CubeSat. These tiny spacecraft often hitch rides to orbit aboard rockets carrying bigger payloads. CubeSats have standard unit sizes of 10 centimeters per side. They can be stacked together—LightSail is a three-unit CubeSat about the size of a loaf of bread.
Once in space, LightSail’s solar arrays swing open, revealing the inside of the spacecraft. Four tape measure-like metal booms slowly unwind from storage, unfolding four triangular, Mylar sails. Each sail is just 4.5 microns thick—one-fourth the thickness of an average trash bag.
Three electromagnetic torque rods aboard LightSail will interact with Earth’s magnetic field, orienting the spacecraft. Ground-based lasers will measure the effect of sunlight on the sails. As LightSail breezes around the Earth, its shiny sails will be visible from the ground. We’ll organize viewing campaigns to show people where to look.
In May 2015, the first LightSail spacecraft will hitch a ride to orbit aboard an Atlas V rocket for a shakedown cruise. In 2016, LightSail will be enclosed within Prox-1, a small satellite developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) to autonomously inspect other spacecraft. Both satellites will be lifted into orbit by the Falcon Heavy, a new heavy-lift rocket built by private spaceflight company SpaceX.
LightSail and Prox-1 will be released into an orbit with an altitude of 720 kilometers (450 miles), high enough to escape most of the planet’s atmospheric drag. Prox-1 will eject LightSail into open space. Later, it will assemble with LightSail and inspect it. When LightSail unfurls its solar sails, Prox-1 will be nearby to capture images of the big moment.
The Planetary Society plans the LightSail Spacecraft test launch on May 20,2015.
