Delayed LightSail: A Revolutionary Solar Sailing Spacecraft

[SamuraiJack]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theplanetarysociety/lightsail-a-revolutionary-solar-sailing-spacecraft

About this project

LightSail: The People’s Spacecraft

I'm Bill Nye, CEO of The Planetary Society. Yes, the Science Guy is also the Planetary Guy. I invite you to come along on a cosmic journey with me by participating in a mission to sail a spacecraft, a tiny CubeSat no bigger than a breadbox, on beams of light. Imagine it: unlimited free energy from the Sun will provide CubeSats with propulsion and revolutionize access to space for low-cost citizen projects—projects like ours or by teams of students and faculty at universities. This means that spacecraft, especially small ones like CubeSats, won't have to carry heavy fuels into orbit, and that the acceleration will be continuous. Even better, this is a journey that is directly funded by the world’s citizens, like you, rather than by governments. LightSailâ„¢ is truly “the people’s spacecraft.â€

Our LightSail mission will be the culmination of the hopes and dreams of our visionary founders, Louis Friedman, Bruce Murray and Carl Sagan. Some of you may remember Carl famously promoting solar sailing on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show.

LightSail is a huge contribution to space science and exploration. To learn more about this amazing project, check out our dedicated website at sail.planetary.org. Through this proof-of-concept mission, we will use CubeSats to open new paths beyond Earth and, one day, potentially to other planets with an inexpensive, inexhaustible means of propulsion: photons, solar energy in its purest form. We need backers like you to join us in getting to this epic point in space exploration history. LightSail propulsion truly holds the promise—dare I say it?—to change the world!

Edited April 25, 2016 by Darsc Zacal
Tag updated

[Corporea]

I backed because "go science!!"... although I am worried about space debris...

[Lochar]

Bah, it's already using solar power.  Outfit the cube sat with solar powered lasers, and then charge gamers money to shoot the debris.  21st Century version of Asteroids.

[Qwyksilver]

Bah, it's already using solar power.  Outfit the cube sat with solar powered lasers, and then charge gamers money to shoot the debris.  21st Century version of Asteroids.

I'd buy that for a buck!

[ChaoticBlues]

I'm in for five. 

 

...and now I've got 'Come Sail Away' going though my head. 

[Jeneki]

Since we're seeing the civilian model now, this means the military version has already invaded Saturn.  

[TGP]

Bah, it's already using solar power. Outfit the cube sat with solar powered lasers, and then charge gamers money to shoot the debris. 21st Century version of Asteroids.

Fun in theory.

Reality is: shoot space debris? number of objects multiplies x1000, at least.

 

Asteroid was: shoot asteroid? get two smaller rocks...

 

A more challenging game would involve matching orbits with something, snagging it (magnetically maybe) and then dragging it slowly (with thousands of little nudges delivered over a period of weeks) out of orbit so that it falls and burns up.

Edited May 27, 2015 by TGP

[Mad Jack]

 I'm in for a dollar - this is just freakin' awesome. It's too bad I'm broke - if money wasn't an issue I'd be paying them to paint my face on the side of the thing, lol...

[Evilhalfling]

Since we're seeing the civilian model now, this means the military version has already invaded Saturn.  

 

Saturn Pthht.

Mars is inhabited by robots!  They may be hostile ! 

 

The military should be way more concerned about attacking mars 

[Lochar]

 

Bah, it's already using solar power. Outfit the cube sat with solar powered lasers, and then charge gamers money to shoot the debris. 21st Century version of Asteroids.

Fun in theory.

Reality is: shoot space debris? number of objects multiplies x1000, at least.

 

Asteroid was: shoot asteroid? get two smaller rocks...

 

A more challenging game would involve matching orbits with something, snagging it (magnetically maybe) and then dragging it slowly (with thousands of little nudges delivered over a period of weeks) out of orbit so that it falls and burns up.

 

 

Don't bring logic and reality into my fantasy!