How to Spot NASA's Solar Sail Demonstration Streaking Through the Night Sky

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-to-spot-nasas-solar-sail-demonstration-streaking-through-the-night-sky-180985052/

by Brajeshwar • 2 years ago

138 41 2 years ago

smithsonianmag.com

rob74• 2 years ago

The good thing about NASA is that they always also give you the metric measurements (and sometimes, as a bonus, some real-world thing they're comparable to). To quote https://blogs.nasa.gov/smallsatellites/2024/08/29/nasa-compo...:

From above, the sail will appear as a square, with an area of approximately 860 square feet (80 square meters) – about half the size of a tennis court.

Not bad for a device the size of a microwave...

sholladay2• 2 years ago

That is bigger than many city apartments.

scoot• 2 years ago

Not really... apartments have volume.

sans_souse• 2 years ago

Ok but how many school busses is that?

croisillon• 2 years ago

about half an olympic swimming pool

skykooler• 2 years ago

About one medium-sized school bus long on each side.

dylan6042• 2 years ago

it's one half of a JWST

mdl_principle• 2 years ago

Another option for those who don't want to download the app: https://www.heavens-above.com (also works for many other satellites).

Set your location in the upper-right corner, then select the ACS3 on the main page.

cdaringe• 2 years ago

This website is a so distracting with ads I couldn’t focus and had to close it. Too bad—i did want that content. Ya ya i have ad blocking but over vpn my dns settings change. Must… fix…

michelb• 2 years ago

It also works fine with whatever 'reader mode' your browser may have.

lordfrito3• 2 years ago

So I wanted to take a look at the actual craft they built, but all I can find are a bunch of nice CGI animations. Usually there are photos of the fully assembled satellite sitting in a test lab somewhere prior to launch.

Anyone have a link to actual pictures of the probe?

Also -- what's happening to science when more and more articles seem to have CGI artists renditions instead of pictures of the real thing. I get that those with ADHD need some stimulation to keep them interested in science funding -- but as a skeptic I find the boring "real" photos far more interesting. It's getting harder to tell real programs from fictional programs with clickbait titles and pretty graphics i.e. "NASA has designs for a working warp drive"

/rant

edit: OK so I finally found an image of the final assembled satellite prior to launch here [0]

[0] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GL2pPKZW4AAXK1P?format=jpg&name=...

cbsks• 2 years ago

I found a few pictures:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/acs3/

https://www.nasa.gov/smallspacecraft/what-is-acs3/

lordfrito3• 2 years ago

Thanks for this, no photo of the completed satellite but it's something. It's a shame you have to dig deeper into the NASA website to find the images-- should be on the main mission page.

d4mi3n• 2 years ago

I realize you said it in jest, but as someone with ADHD generalizations like this hurt. Many of us love science and we have enough day to day difficulties to contend with.

That said, I can think of a few reasons for not releasing a photo:

1. Solar sails are flimsily and fragile. The photo would likely not be representative of the craft in action.

2. The labs building these things may not have a professional photographer available.

3. A prototype craft might just look like junk. Wouldn’t be surprised if they want to iterate on the design a bit before they solidify the public’s vision of what a solar sailing craft looks like.

lordfrito3• 2 years ago

as someone with ADHD generalizations like this hurt

Apologies -- I was mainly referring to the "overstimulated generation" of kids and their effect on media becoming more clickbaity with fancy/fake images. It was a poor choice of mine to summarize this idea using the word ADHD.

digging• 2 years ago

It's getting harder to tell real programs from fictional programs

...Is this a real concern of yours? I've never experienced such ambiguity

mrguyorama• 2 years ago

Also -- what's happening to science when more and more articles seem to have CGI artists renditions instead of pictures of the real thing

I'm sorry for joining the pile-on but why do you believe this is "new"? Artists interpretations and renderings have been the norm for space media since before NASA. It makes sense, since it's so hard to get the film crew out to Jupiter, and the craft all folded up on it's launch platform is usually less interesting to normal people than seeing the instrument as it will be in space

but as a skeptic... It's getting harder to tell real programs... working warp drive

Skeptic? I promise you that everything put onto a rocket is real. Keep in mind that every single project anyone has ever had to get funding for will inevitably have a CGI rendering or artists interpretation because you need something to put on the first powerpoint slide when you pitch it to the funding board. This is not limited to NASA

dylan6042• 2 years ago

Also -- what's happening to science when more and more articles seem to have CGI artists renditions

In case you weren't aware, pretty much everything in advertising in a render as well. If the car is not moving in a commercial shot from a camera car/drone, it's more than likely 3D rendered. Those close up interior shots or the camera zooming from outside to the interior, yup, those are 3D rendered. A large portion of product shots (like furniture) online are 3D rendered as well. This has been happening for a long time too

abeppu2• 2 years ago

Perhaps a really naive question: what can you do with a solar sail in orbit?

I've always heard these as mentioned in the context of very long distance trips (heading away from the sun). But if you're orbiting the earth, how do you take advantage of this? In general, how do you use a solar sail to do anything other than head away from the sun?

teraflop2• 2 years ago

The sail doesn't have to be oriented directly perpendicular to the sun. By angling it, you can gain momentum in other directions, just like a sail on a boat doesn't have to push you directly downwind.

When in orbit around earth, thrust in the direction of your orbit (prograde) causes you to gain energy and altitude, and retrograde thrust does the opposite.

Alupis2• 2 years ago

Is there any indication of how much thrust/acceleration they expect from this, and over what time scale?

abeppu2• 2 years ago

just like a sail on a boat doesn't have to push you directly downwind

I'm not a sailor, but doesn't this rely on the force of water on the keel, to avoid being pushed laterally?

When in orbit around earth, thrust in the direction of your orbit (prograde) causes you to gain energy and altitude, and retrograde thrust does the opposite.

For station-keeping purposes, when should you prefer a solar sail as versus PV panels and an ion drive?

jahnu2• 2 years ago

My intuition is failing me here. How does that work since there is no body of water like a boat has to push off?

kbelder2• 2 years ago

Huh, now that I think about this, it makes me realize solar sails might be able to be used to drop material directly into the sun? Angle it for maximum retrograde acceleration in a solar orbit, and twenty years later the cargo impacts the sun? That's normally a very difficult task.

alnwlsn• 2 years ago

Raise and lower your orbit, I guess. Any unbalanced force on something in orbit will do one of the two.

bloopernova• 2 years ago

I remember being fascinated by the concept of sailing the sea of stars. Mostly because I read Sunjammer by Arthur C Clarke at an impressionable age lol.

https://fiction.scoutlife.org/the-sunjammer/

dave3332• 2 years ago

How can the sail control its orientation? Without that it would just get pushed around "at random."

dave3332• 2 years ago

From wikipedia: Attitude control is achieved by a relative shift between the craft's center of pressure and its center of mass. This can be achieved with control vanes, movement of individual sails, movement of a control mass, or altering reflectivity.

amenghra• 2 years ago

Related: this little object spins because the darker part absorbs light while the lighter part reflects light — or so people initially thought!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiometer

hidelooktropic• 2 years ago

"the spacecraft began flying without attitude control"

How to Spot NASA's Solar Sail Demonstration Streaking Through the Night Sky

Related Stories