{"id":10709,"date":"2015-06-03T23:00:10","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T03:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10709"},"modified":"2015-06-03T23:00:10","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T03:00:10","slug":"update-on-the-planetary-societys-lightsail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10709","title":{"rendered":"Update on the Planetary Society&#8217;s LightSail"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The saga of the Planetary Society&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/sail.planetary.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">LightSail<\/a>\u00a0spacecraft\u00a0(see <a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10678\" target=\"_blank\">earlier post<\/a>) continues. The control team decided to deploy only the solar panels today (Wednesday) and, if that went well, unfurl the solar sail on Friday:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.planetary.org\/blogs\/jason-davis\/2015\/20150602-panels-wednesday-sails-friday.html?referrer=http:\/\/planetary.org\/\" target=\"_d\">LightSail Deployment Update: Panels Wednesday, Sails Friday &#8211;\u00a0The Planetary Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Data indicates that the\u00a0deployment of the solar panels occurred, though\u00a0it has not been\u00a0confirmed visually with a photo\u00a0from a spacecraft camera:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.planetary.org\/blogs\/jason-davis\/2015\/20150603-ls-panel-deploy-update.html\" target=\"_d\">LightSail Solar Panel Deployment: No Pics, but Data Look Good &#8211;\u00a0The Planetary Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They will decide on Thursday whether to proceed with the sail deployment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The spacecraft is out of range until Thursday, with the next ground station pass expected to begin at 4:45 a.m. EDT. A team meeting is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. to discuss the latest telemetry data. With evidence mounting in favor of a successful panel deployment, and an itch to press forward on the solar sails as soon as possible, further test imaging may be scrapped. Providing battery levels return to normal, and any outstanding issues are resolved, a Friday deployment could still be in the works.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Follow the latest updates at<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.planetary.org\/blogs\/jason-davis\">Jason Davis blog<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sail.planetary.org\/missioncontrol\" target=\"_d\">Mission Control Center &#8211;\u00a0The Planetary Society<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The saga of the Planetary Society&#8217;s LightSail\u00a0spacecraft\u00a0(see earlier post) continues. The control team decided to deploy only the solar panels today (Wednesday) and, if that went well, unfurl the solar sail on Friday:\u00a0LightSail Deployment Update: Panels Wednesday, Sails Friday &#8211;\u00a0The Planetary Society. Data indicates that the\u00a0deployment of the solar panels occurred, though\u00a0it has not been\u00a0confirmed &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10709\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Update on the Planetary Society&#8217;s LightSail<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-diy-space","category-space-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2MJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10678,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10678","url_meta":{"origin":10709,"position":0},"title":"Planetary Society&#8217;s LightSail awakens and sends a signal","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"[ Update June.1.15: The LightSail spacecraft may unfurl its solar sail this week:\u00a0LightSail Team Prepares for Possible Tuesday Sail Deployment -\u00a0The Planetary Society. This afternoon, mission managers gave the go-ahead for a manual solar sail deployment as early as Tuesday, June 2 at 11:44 a.m. EDT (15:44 UTC), providing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10715,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10715","url_meta":{"origin":10709,"position":1},"title":"The LightSail goes silent once more","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"After coming\u00a0back to life and appearing to deploy its solar panels, the Planetary Society's\u00a0LightSail\u00a0 has gone quiet again, probably due to drained batteries. They are expected to recharge eventually and allow the spacecraft to resume communicating:\u00a0LightSail Falls Silent; Battery Glitch Suspected -\u00a0The Planetary Society\u00a0- If LightSail is suffering from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12272,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12272","url_meta":{"origin":10709,"position":2},"title":"Video: Planetary Society&#8217;s LightSail 2 tests its sail","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an update on the Planetary Society's LightSail 2 project:\u00a0Meet LightSail 2, The Planetary Society's new solar sailing CubeSat -\u00a0The Planetary Society. Last June, LightSail 1 successfully tested the deployment of its sail in orbit. The goal of LightSail 2 is to achieve\u00a0propulsion from the pressure of sunlight. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/K7UBWz2mvro\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10622,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10622","url_meta":{"origin":10709,"position":3},"title":"Planetary Society LightSail in orbit","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Atlas V launch mentioned earlier went off well on Wednesday: https:\/\/youtu.be\/l7Riq9rr4ao The X-37B and the ten CubeSats secondary payloads were deployed, including the Planetary Society's LightSail and it began transmitting its status: Liftoff! LightSail Sails into Space aboard Atlas V Rocket - The Planetary Society LightSail Sends First Data\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/l7Riq9rr4ao\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10614,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10614","url_meta":{"origin":10709,"position":4},"title":"Planetary Society&#8217;s LightSail to launch on Atlas V &#8211;  Kickstarter raising funds","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A solar sail prototype called the LightSail, built by the\u00a0Planetary Society, will be one of secondary payloads on an Atlas V rocket set to be launched on Wednesday. The primary payload is one of the\u00a0US Air Force's reusble\u00a0X-37B spaceplanes.\u00a0The sail is packed into a tiny CubeSat. The sail unfurls from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"DeploymentFromCentaur","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DeploymentFromCentaur.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8085,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8085","url_meta":{"origin":10709,"position":5},"title":"Update on Planetary Society&#8217;s LightSail project","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest update on the Planetary Society's LightSail\u00a0project and links to the previous entries in the series: LightSail update: Boom deployment diagnosis continues LightSail update: Flight system test delayed LightSail is happening, and I'll be your new guide LightSail artwork by Rick Sternbach Here is a\u00a0video showing a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"lightsail_art_rs_compressed_f840","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lightsail_art_rs_compressed_f840-300x206.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10710,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10709\/revisions\/10710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}