solar sail
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NASA’s Solar Sail Makes First Contact From Space Before Stretching Its Enormous Wings
Nearly a week after launching to space, a microwave-sized cubesat phoned home for the first time as it prepares to embark on its mission of sailing through low Earth orbit. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) contacted ground operators on Tuesday at 2:30 a.m. ET as it passed over the ground hub located at…
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A Trip to Proxima Centauri and Other Far-Out Ideas NASA Is Exploring
NASA, in its relentless pursuit of space innovation, announced on Thursday the selection of 13 new projects for its 2024 Phase I awards under the Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. These awards, totaling up to $US175,000 each, are granted to teams proposing advanced and unconventional space technologies. The NIAC program, known for funding groundbreaking concepts,…
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The Daring LightSail 2 Spacecraft Is Being Sucked Into Fiery Doom
For the past three years, a tiny loaf-of-bread-sized spacecraft with gigantic wings has been sailing on sunbeams in low Earth orbit. LightSail 2 has far exceeded its life expectancy and proven that solar sails can indeed be used to fly spacecraft. But its journey around our planet is sadly coming to an end, as Earth’s…
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NASA Has a Zany Plan to Sail to an Asteroid
NASA wants to propel a shoebox-sized spacecraft to an asteroid using a solar sail, the first deep space mission by the agency to use such a mechanism.