The final -- and most dramatic -- stage of the LightSail-A mission was pulled off this week when the 11-pound spacecraft deployed its 344-square-foot solar sail in low-Earth orbit, returning a mesmerizing image to its cheering sections at Georgia Tech.

June 9: The final -- and most dramatic -- stage of the LightSail-A mission was pulled off this week when the 11-pound spacecraft deployed its 344-square-foot solar sail in low-Earth orbit, returning a mesmerizing image to its cheering sections at Georgia Tech, Caly Poly, and The Planetary Society.

Ground control stations at both universities have been tracking the satellite since it was deployed from the Atlas V rocket, May 20. Developed by The Planetary Society, the satellite is testing a new method of propelling future space travel.

Georgia Tech has been responsible for LightSail-A's mission design, spacecraft tracking, and mission operations.

In 2016 the  LightSail-B mission will  demonstrate active control of the solar sail. At that time, the Georgia Tech Prox-1 spacecraft will deploy LightSail-B into orbit, and provide on-orbit inspection as LightSail-B deploys its solar sail.

For now, however, it's all about LightSail-A, which is giving scientists an opportunity to test the solar sail concept.

For a few days after LightSail-A's solar panels were deployed  last week, a radio silence ensued -- the result of a minor glitch in the satellite's batteries. But the system was able to boot up and deploy its solar sail this week.

Mission manager Dr. Dave Spencer explained the signficance of the LightSail-A mission, which will end when the now-deployed sail falls out of orbit  (within a day or two):

"By harnessing the momentum of the Sun’s photons, a solar sail can impart a tiny but continuous thrust to the host spacecraft. Over time, this thrust results in an acceleration that can allow the spacecraft to reach the outer solar system or even interstellar space.

 

 

The LightSail-A mission has been a tremendous challenge.  It is an ambitious mission, built and operated on a very limited budget.  It is very rewarding to achieve full mission success.

Georgia Tech has played a critical role in that success.  The experience in working with LightSail-A has moved our team up the learning curve, and put us in a strong position to succeed with our own in-house missions.  It has been valuable for the students to see the LightSail-A engineering team work through difficult problems, try things, make mistakes, try again, and ultimately succeed. Space flight is hard, and it is much easier to work through problems during ground testing prior to launch than it is in flight."

 

 

Previous LightSail dispatches

JUNE 3:  The students of AE's Space Systems Design Lab (SSDL) had a unique way of celebrating today's 50th anniversary of America's first walk in space: they gathered in the third floor of the ESM building to serve as the mission control center for another space adventure, LightSail-A.

Launched May 20, as a part of the Atlas V payload, the tiny satellite was scheduled to deploy its solar panels today. 

By 4:00 p.m., all indications pointed to a successful deployment, says mission manager Prof. David Spencer. 

"From the information we've received, the panels are showing colder temperatures, which tells us that they have deployed," said Spencer. "We're also troubleshooting any problems we might have with the batteries, so that they are ready for Friday's deployment."

On Friday, the team will monitor the deployment of technology that could change the way future space vehicles are propelled: a tissue-thin, solar-powered "sail." The sail is designed to capture some of the propulsive energy of the solar wind, thereby offering the possibility of reducing the fuel needed for space flight.

The Georgia Tech-based mission control center will be joined by another ground station at Cal Poly to monitor how the inaugural deployment of this new technology goes. 

At Georgia Tech, Spencer is assisted in his work by a team of SSDL students, who are collecting information on the performance of the satellite, the solar panels, and the solar sail. The data they collect will allow engineers to test and optimize all system designs for future deployments.

LightSail-A is sponsored by The Planetary Society and NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative. Next year, a more comprehensive demonstration of the LightSail technology will be conducted via Lightsail-B, which will be launched from the Georgia Tech built Prox-1 satellite.

Find out more about the Prox-1 project.

Listen to this recorded transmission of mission control getting its first signals from LightSail-A. There's even a congratulations from Bill Nye, the Science Guy.