Heinlein Award goes to Daniel J. O’Shaughnessy for solar sail propulsion technique on Messenger probe

An announcement from the Heinlein Prize Trust:

The Heinlein Prize Trust
HEINLEIN AWARD
recognizes innovative solar sail propulsion used
in the MESSENGER mission to Mercury

The Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust’s new Heinlein Award honors
space-tested technology that can benefit commercial space activities.

The inaugural winner of the Heinlein Award for technology is Daniel J. O’Shaughnessy, the first to employ solar panels as sails to control the path of a spacecraft without using its rocket propulsion system.

Messenger_Dan_OShaughnessy

O’Shaughnessy is lead mission systems engineer for the MESSENGER spacecraft, built and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which manages this Discovery-class mission for NASA.

His technique was first used when the APL team accurately aimed MESSENGER for its first flyby of Mercury in 2008.

“This was the most critical part of the mission,” O’Shaughnessy says. “Performance was key, and I wanted to keep the risk low.”

The technology uses the force generated by sunlight to guide the craft, allowing for more precise — and less risky — course adjustment. It also conserves propellant, helping extend the life of the spacecraft and the mission.

Cost-efficient technology that is designed and implemented quickly is a hallmark of APL.

“Whenever we can reduce difficulty and cost, it helps accomplish our goals,” O’Shaughnessy says.


MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of Mercury and the first mission to orbit the planet closest to the Sun.

MESSENGER was launched August 3, 2004, and entered orbit on March 17, 2011. It’s on its second extended mission, scheduled to conclude in Spring 2015. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, director of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, leads the mission as principal investigator.

[MESSENGER Sails on Sun’s Fire for Second Flyby of Mercury – NASA – Sept.5.08]


THE ROBERT A. & VIRGINIA HEINLEIN PRIZE TRUST

Robert A. Heinlein™ was an American writer of speculative fiction who published more than 150 novels, short stories and articles.

The Heinlein Prize Trust is a nonprofit foundation that maintains the legacy of the late author and his wife, Virginia, by promoting the commercial uses of space.

The Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization, founded in 1988, recognizes accomplishments which advance the couple’s dream of humanity’s future in space.

The Heinlein Award, introduced in 2014, recognizes the use of new technologies in space that can benefit commercial space activities.