Posted on 07/11/2014 2:01:31 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Nine years after a rocket failure destroyed its solar-sailing spacecraft, the Planetary Society — the nonprofit space advocacy group led by scientist and popular TV host Bill Nye — is ready for another try.
On Wednesday (July 9), the Planetary Society announced launch dates for its LightSail-1 spacecraft — a possible test flight in 2015 (LightSail-A) and a full mission the next year (LightSail-B) with nearly identical hardware. Both solar sail missions operate under the LightSail-1 designation.
LightSail-B will steer in Earth's orbit using nothing more than radiation from the sun. Made up of three miniature CubeSats, it will launch aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which has yet to be flown. The four sails will ride inside the CubeSats until they're ready to be unfurled, several weeks after liftoff.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.space.com ...
Anything involving him should crash and burn
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