Advanced solar sail mission prepares to catch the wind in the void of space

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨throws_lemy@lemmy.nz⁩ to ⁨astronomy@mander.xyz⁩

https://newatlas.com/space/advanced-solar-sail-mission-ready-launch/

NASA is gearing up to launch an advanced solar sail spacecraft later this month. Using a new boom made of lightweight polymer composites, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is scheduled to lift off on April 24.

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will_a113@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The interesting part of the article:

The new flexible polymer and carbon composite boom is coupled with a twelve-unit (12U) CubeSat built by NanoAvionics. After the mission launches atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand, the spacecraft will go into a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 600 miles (~1,000 km) and the sail will deploy in about 25 minutes to cover an area of 860 ft² (80 m²) with the boom unfolding from the size of a hand to 23 ft (7 m) long. Once deployed, the sail will adjust the vehicle’s orbit by angling itself in relation to the solar wind.

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- Atelopus-zeteki@kbin.run ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yar! Sailing the Solar Winds! TBH, been waiting for this since I first heard of solar sails. Yay, ingenious tool using primates!!!
  
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