First image of NASA’s giant solar sail in space

September 6 () –

NASA has released the first image of its giant adjustable space solar sail, Released in April to give propulsion to a cubeSat and that was fully deployed on August 29.

Known as Advanced Composite Solar Sail Systemthe spacecraft continues to send back images and data, helping the team better understand how the deployment technology demonstration worked and use it to inform the use of full-scale sails for future missions.

This deployed solar sail covers about 80 square metersSince solar radiation pressure is small, the solar sail must be large to generate thrust efficiently.

The mission team continues to analyze incoming data and prepare for the next steps in the technology demonstration over the coming weeks, NASA reports.

Solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, tilting toward or away from the Sun so that photons bounce off the reflective sail to push a spacecraft. This eliminates heavy propulsion systems and could allow for longer, lower-cost missions. Although mass is low, solar sails have been limited by the material and structure of the booms, which act very similarly to the mast of a sailboatBut new technology addresses these drawbacks.

The mission uses a twelve-unit (12U) CubeSat – the size of an oven – built by NanoAvionics to test a new composite boom made of flexible polymers and carbon fiber materials which are stiffer and lighter than previous designs. The primary goal of the mission is to successfully demonstrate the deployment of the new boom, but once deployed, the team also hopes to demonstrate the sail’s performance.

Like a sailboat that turns to catch the wind, the solar sail can adjust its orbit by tilting its sail.After evaluating boom deployment, the mission will test a series of maneuvers to change the spacecraft’s orbit and gather data for potential future missions with even larger sails.

VISIBLE FROM THE GROUND

Currently orbiting Earth, The spacecraft can be seen with its reflective sails deployed from the ground.As part of the planned deployment sequence, the spacecraft began flying without attitude control just prior to arm deployment. As a result, it is slowly stumbling along as expected.

Once the mission team finishes characterizing the arms and sail, it will re-engage the spacecraft’s attitude control system, which will stabilize the spacecraft and stop the spin. Engineers will then analyze the flight dynamics before initiating maneuvers that will raise and lower the spacecraft’s orbit.

Those interested in seeing the sail You can see the spacecraft using a new feature in the NASA mobile appIts visibility may be intermittent in the night sky and it may appear with varying levels of brightness as it rotates.