This fall, NASA researchers will move one step closer to sailing among the stars.
Engineers at NASA have designed and built NanoSail-D, a "solar sail" that will test
NASA's ability to deploy a massive but fragile spacecraft from an extremely compact structure. Much like the wind pushing a sailboat through water, solar sails rely on sunlight to propel vehicles through space. The sail captures constantly streaming solar particles, called photons, with giant sails built from a lightweight material. Over time, the buildup of these particles provides enough thrust for a small spacecraft to travel in space.
One of NanoSail-D's several mission objectives is to demonstrate the capability to deploy a large sail structure from a highly compacted volume without recontacting the spacecraft. The mission also will demonstrate and test the de-orbiting capabilities of solar sails.
NASA hopes to one day use thin membranes to de-orbit satellites and space debris. Finally, engineers hope to successfully demonstrate solar sailing. While NanoSail-D’s relatively low altitude means drag from Earth’s atmosphere may dominate any propulsion from the sun, the nanosatellite remains a small first step towards eventually deploying solar sails at higher altitudes.
On Thursday, Aug. 19, principal investigator NanoSail-D, Dean Alhorn, at NAS
A's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. will answer your questions about the NanoSail-D mission and solar sails in general. Joining the chat is easy. Simply visit this page on Thursday, Aug. 19, from 3 to 4 p.m. EDT. The chat window will open at the bottom of this page starting at 2:30 p.m. EDT. You can log in and be ready to ask questions at 3 p.m. See you in chat!
More About Chat Expert Dean Alhorn
Alhorn, a NASA Marshall employee since 1991, is an expert in electro-mechanical systems and the principle investigator for NanoSail-D, slated to launch from Kodiak Island, Alaska, no earlier than Oct. 1. Alhorn has prior flight systems experience with the Chandra X-ray Observatory telescope; the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite; and the Suppression of Transient Accelerations by Levitation Experiment. Alhorn continues to perform research in the area of solar sail propulsion technology.
He is a native of Albuquerque, N.M., and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, and a Master of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Engineers at NASA have designed and built NanoSail-D, a "solar sail" that will test
NASA's ability to deploy a massive but fragile spacecraft from an extremely compact structure. Much like the wind pushing a sailboat through water, solar sails rely on sunlight to propel vehicles through space. The sail captures constantly streaming solar particles, called photons, with giant sails built from a lightweight material. Over time, the buildup of these particles provides enough thrust for a small spacecraft to travel in space.One of NanoSail-D's several mission objectives is to demonstrate the capability to deploy a large sail structure from a highly compacted volume without recontacting the spacecraft. The mission also will demonstrate and test the de-orbiting capabilities of solar sails.
NASA hopes to one day use thin membranes to de-orbit satellites and space debris. Finally, engineers hope to successfully demonstrate solar sailing. While NanoSail-D’s relatively low altitude means drag from Earth’s atmosphere may dominate any propulsion from the sun, the nanosatellite remains a small first step towards eventually deploying solar sails at higher altitudes.
On Thursday, Aug. 19, principal investigator NanoSail-D, Dean Alhorn, at NAS
A's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. will answer your questions about the NanoSail-D mission and solar sails in general. Joining the chat is easy. Simply visit this page on Thursday, Aug. 19, from 3 to 4 p.m. EDT. The chat window will open at the bottom of this page starting at 2:30 p.m. EDT. You can log in and be ready to ask questions at 3 p.m. See you in chat!More About Chat Expert Dean Alhorn
Alhorn, a NASA Marshall employee since 1991, is an expert in electro-mechanical systems and the principle investigator for NanoSail-D, slated to launch from Kodiak Island, Alaska, no earlier than Oct. 1. Alhorn has prior flight systems experience with the Chandra X-ray Observatory telescope; the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite; and the Suppression of Transient Accelerations by Levitation Experiment. Alhorn continues to perform research in the area of solar sail propulsion technology.
He is a native of Albuquerque, N.M., and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, and a Master of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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