Do we have another space race.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Noticed this post on APOD - http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110128.html

According to this NASA went first but the JAXA claims first so who did really.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

Noticed this post on APOD - http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110128.html

According to this NASA went first but the JAXA claims first so who did really.

It says the first solar sail IN Earth Orbit, the Japanese craft is way out in the boondocks

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Didn't even know it was launched.

Play on words.

[astroron (Ron)]

Malcolm,its been in orbit for six months
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/ikaros/index_e.html
Cheers

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Noticed that Spaceweather and NASA offering prise to take a snapshot of the kite

[bartman (Bart)]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

Noticed that Spaceweather and NASA offering prise to take a snapshot of the kite

I was just about to post in regards to this!
Anybody had a go yet?
My sat tracking app on iphone doesn't have it in its DB
Bartman

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

I hope that we have a space race much better than a arms race

[CraigS]

NanoSail D tracking page is here.

Visible passes info is here.

Nasa homepage is here.

Physorg article says:

No matter what happens next, NanoSail-D has already made history: It has demonstrated an elegant and inexpensive method for deploying sails and become the first sail to orbit Earth. Eventually, the team will diagnose the sail’s reluctance to leave FASTSAT—"and then we'll be batting a thousand," says Alhorn.

I wouldn't exactly describe the deployment as 'elegant'. The thing was stuck inside the mothership for weeks and then …

For reasons engineers still don't fully understand, NanoSail-D spontaneously ejected itself.

Its 10m⌃2 total in area .. good luck looking for it …

The JAXA Ikaros probe is out at Venus at present.

Cheers

[renormalised (Carl)]

It was thinking about it.....

[Kevnool (Kev)]

Low earth orbit is just getting a bit more crowded.
What is this ones purpose?

Cheers Kev.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Kevnool

Low earth orbit is just getting a bit more crowded.
What is this ones purpose?

Cheers Kev.

Hi Kev,
Testing, Testing, that's all
Cheers

[Benno18 (Ben)]

Originally Posted by astroron

Hi Kev,
Testing, Testing, that's all
Cheers

So why not turn it in to a. . . . . well not full blown mission as such but connect something to it. Take a few pics, analyzing, studies??
seems a bit of a waste to just burn it up in the atmosphere. (the nasa one at least)

[CraigS]

Originally Posted by Benno18

So why not turn it in to a. . . . . well not full blown mission as such but connect something to it. Take a few pics, analyzing, studies??
seems a bit of a waste to just burn it up in the atmosphere. (the nasa one at least)

G'Day Ben;

The package delivering the sail is small, 12 inches x 4 inches x 4 inches, and has a mass of only 4 kgs. I think they only had room for a battery, a beacon/transmitter and the sail.

The delivery technology is called 'CubeSat' and is designed only for delivery of 'nano satellites' into orbit. In 2004,a single CubeSat device could be made and launched for only $65K - $80K, which makes it viable for University researchers to afford.

They're trying to demonstrate that scientific and engineering space research value can come from modest investments. As soon as one takes this path, one is constrained by physics, engineering tradeoffs and cost optimisation constraints.

Given that the sails have only limited usefulness in space travel, it would seem appropriate to keep the 'nice-to-haves' at the bare minimum.

Cheers