Solar Sail mission

[suzuka]

<p>&nbsp;The launch plan of demonstrator for a solar sail was reported by the Japanese news media.</p><p>&nbsp;http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/national/news/CK2008110902000118.html</p><p>----------------------------------------------</p><p>Translation&nbsp;</p><p><em>Aiming at realization of the "solar sail" which receives the particles of solar light on a big sail, and is accelerated, Japan Exploration Agency (JAXA) determined the policy which starts preparation of the demonstrator which will cruise to a nearby planet by November 8. The plan to carry it instead of the weight which suppresses the vibration at the time of launching an H-IIA rocket in the near future was unveiled at the international society held in Britain. </em></p><p><em>Assistant Professor Osamu MORI who is a demonstrator team representative says.<br />"If it succeeds in the interplanetary cruise by a solar sail, it will be the first in the world. We put the meaning of the challenge and named it "Ikaros". Although propellant is not required for a solar sail and low cost is the strong point, the technique which folds and launches a big sail and is deployed in the space is a problem".</em></p><p><em>Professor Junichiro Kawaguchi and others of JAXA launched the small rocket from Uchinoura, Kagoshima, and they succeeded in the experiment which deploys the sail of a thin resin film with a diameter of 10m in the universe for the first time in the world in August, 2004.</em></p><p><em>Then, the ion engine was combined with the sail which stuck the solar cell in part, and the probe which cruises to Jupiter and the asteroid of further long distance was planned. This time, they targeted Venus etc. as the first step, and they decided to prove that it can cruise only using a sail.</em></p><p><em>In a plan, the sail of Ikaros is a square whose one side is about 14m. And aluminum is vapor-deposited on the polyimide resin film only 0.0075mm thick. It is folded into X type like wrinkles, and is twisted around the main body (about 1.6m in diameter, about 1m in length, and 350kg in weight) of the cylinder type arranged at the center.</em></p><p><em>Main body carries out a high velocity revolution temporarily after a launch, and a sail is deployed by centrifugal force, and it continues rotating slowly, and the form of a sail is maintained. Deployment of a sail will be checked with six miniature cameras. It is said that it can accelerate or slow down by changing the angle to the sun of a sail.</em></p><p><br /><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/10/2/fa0f7187-ed2c-4f3a-8217-669b69c305f6.Medium.jpg" alt="" /></p><p><em>----------------------------------------------</em></p><p>It is not described when the launch is. </p><p>On the other hand, the procurement contract of the name of "the solar sail loading adapter development test corresponding to PLANET-C missions" was already exhibited on September 8.</p><p>I do not know whether these are the same projects.</p><p>However, if these are the same, Ikaros will be launched in 2010.</p><p>Will Ikaros be launched earlier than Cosmos2 and the NASA solar sail? </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Ikaros web&nbsp;page:</p><p>http://www.jspec.jaxa.jp/e/activity/ikaros.html</p><p>JAXA's Solar sail mission:</p><p>http://www.senkyo.co.jp/ists2008/pdf/2008-d-57.pdf</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>-----------------------------------------------</p><p>I HOPE that a space budget grows more.<br /><img id="13d0b3c4-c5bc-4a2d-ad5c-33562f04976a" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/3/13/13d0b3c4-c5bc-4a2d-ad5c-33562f04976a.Large.gif" alt="blog post photo" /> </p><div><br /> </div> </div>

 

[3488]

<p><font size="2"><strong>Hi suzuka,</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>I have locked this thread as we already had one on IKAROS & to help prevent the boards from filling up with duplicate threads.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>I have copied your above post including your SigLine onto the pre-existing thread.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Andrew Brown.&nbsp;</strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>