japan launches solar sails

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
33 feet ain't gonna cut it though, and they still have to worry about micro-meteors and space dust, but it is one hell of a step in the right direction.

Kudos!

and...thanks for the news brief, SF :evilcool:
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
I'm wondering if they botthered attaching anything to the jettisoned sails...like a satellite, to see how far/fast a sail of this size would pull before collapsing on itself. If they didn't...talk about a waste of a good opportunity.
 

Shadowfax

<b>mod cow</b>
here is the link to the official website: http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/snews/2004/0809.shtml

doesn't look like they attached anything to it. it's a pity; i would have liked to know how much the sail accelerated. but then again, it probably didn't accelerate at all due to the short time interval.

hopefully the deployment technique they used (which has been the most limiting factor so far) will allow other countries to deploy and test solar sails :)
 

Professur

Well-Known Member
From reading it, they weren't high enough for the sails to have gone anywhere. You'd need to get them out of the gravity well before you'd see anything. And, for all their size, they weren't large enough to propel themselves anywhere. This was pretty much a test of deployment and material systems. Now that they know they work, they can try to go further.

Baby steps.
 
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