NASA’s Solar Sail Set for Space Voyage: Testing New Propulsion Method
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 18, 2024
NASA is poised to launch its Advanced Composite Solar Sail System next week, utilizing a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. Scheduled for Tuesday, April 23, the mission seeks to explore solar propulsion by deploying a CubeSat into orbit approximately 600 miles above Earth, a significant ascent from the orbit of the International Space Station.
The mission’s primary objective is to test the CubeSat’s reflective solar sail in space, where the minimal pressure of sunlight, comparable in force to a paperclip on your palm, can be used to maneuver the satellite without conventional fuel. Following a thorough two-month subsystems verification, the CubeSat will execute a series of maneuvers to demonstrate potential altitude adjustments via sunlight pressure alone.
This solar sail technology, developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center with contributions from Langley Research Center and managed by the Small Spacecraft Technology program, aims to facilitate more cost-effective missions to destinations like the Moon and Mars by proving the practicality of solar sail propulsion.
NASA’s Langley Research Center contributed the deployable composite booms and the solar sail system, while the onboard camera diagnostic system was designed and built by NASA’s Ames Research Center. The mission’s launch services are provided by Rocket Lab USA, Inc., based in Long Beach, California.
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