{"id":9188,"date":"2014-11-07T18:21:26","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T23:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9188"},"modified":"2014-11-07T18:22:07","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T23:22:07","slug":"heinlein-award-goes-to-daniel-j-oshaughnessy-for-solar-sail-propulsion-technique-on-messenger-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9188","title":{"rendered":"Heinlein Award goes to Daniel J. O’Shaughnessy for solar sail propulsion technique on Messenger probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

An announcement from the Heinlein Prize Trust<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Heinlein Prize Trust<\/strong>
\nHEINLEIN AWARD<\/strong>
\nrecognizes innovative solar sail propulsion used
\nin the MESSENGER mission to Mercury<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust\u2019s new Heinlein Award honors
\nspace-tested technology that can benefit commercial space activities.<\/em><\/p>\n

The inaugural winner of the Heinlein Award for technology is Daniel J. O\u2019Shaughnessy<\/a>, the first to employ solar panels as sails to control the path<\/a> of a spacecraft without using its rocket propulsion system.<\/p>\n

\"Messenger_Dan_OShaughnessy\"<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shaughnessy is lead mission systems engineer for the MESSENGER<\/a> spacecraft, built and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which manages this Discovery-class mission for NASA.<\/p>\n

His technique was first used when the APL team accurately aimed MESSENGER for its first flyby of Mercury in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the most critical part of the mission,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy says.\u00a0\u201cPerformance was key, and I wanted to keep the risk low.\u201d<\/p>\n

The technology uses the force generated by sunlight to guide the craft, allowing for more precise \u2014 and less risky \u2014 course adjustment. It also conserves propellant, helping extend the life of the spacecraft and the mission.<\/p>\n

Cost-efficient technology that is designed and implemented quickly is a hallmark of APL.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever we can reduce difficulty and cost, it helps accomplish our goals,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy says.<\/p>\n

\n

MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging<\/a>)\u00a0is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of Mercury and the first mission\u00a0to orbit the planet closest to the Sun.<\/p>\n

MESSENGER was launched August 3, 2004, and entered orbit on March 17, 2011.\u00a0It\u2019s on its second extended mission, scheduled to conclude in Spring 2015.\u00a0Dr. Sean C. Solomon, director of Columbia University\u2019s Lamont-Doherty\u00a0Earth Observatory, leads the mission as principal investigator.<\/p>\n

[MESSENGER Sails on Sun’s Fire for Second Flyby of Mercury – NASA – Sept.5.08<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\n

\u2022 THE ROBERT A. & VIRGINIA HEINLEIN PRIZE TRUST<\/a> \u2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert A. Heinlein<\/a>\u2122 was an American writer of speculative fiction who published more than 150 novels, short stories and articles.<\/p>\n

The Heinlein Prize Trust<\/a> is a nonprofit\u00a0foundation that maintains the legacy of the late author and his wife, Virginia<\/a>, by promoting the commercial uses of space.<\/p>\n

The Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization<\/a>,\u00a0founded in 1988, recognizes accomplishments which advance the couple\u2019s dream of humanity\u2019s future in space.<\/p>\n

The Heinlein Award<\/a>, introduced in 2014, recognizes the use of new\u00a0technologies in space that can benefit commercial space activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s new Heinlein Award honors space-tested technology that can benefit commercial space activities. The inaugural winner of the Heinlein Award for technology is … Continue reading Heinlein Award goes to Daniel J. O’Shaughnessy for solar sail propulsion technique on Messenger probe<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,13,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-space-science","category-space-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2oc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6086,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6086","url_meta":{"origin":9188,"position":0},"title":"Geoffrey Landis wins the 2014 Robert A. 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Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy Graphic Novel by Eric Gignac \u2014 Kickstarter Citizen of the Galaxy will be the first graphic novel adapted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activism"","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6586,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6586","url_meta":{"origin":9188,"position":3},"title":"National Space Society announces Robert A. Heinlein Award for Elon Musk","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Congratulations to Elon Musk on winning the\u00a0National Space Society Heinlein Award. (In 2011 Musk won the\u00a0The Heinlein Prize, which is a separate honor given \"for making practical contributions to the commercialization of space\".) Elon Musk Wins National Space Society Robert A. Heinlein Award Washington, DC -- February 21, 2014:\u00a0The National\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activism"","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"Elon Musk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nss.org\/awards\/images\/musk.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5139,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5139","url_meta":{"origin":9188,"position":4},"title":"NSS opens voting for 2014 Heinlein Award","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"An announcement from the National Space Society: Balloting Is NOW Open For The 2014 Heinlein Award Make YOUR vote count -\u00a0 Vote For Your Choice of Candidates!\u00a0 The National Space Society's Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award honors those individuals who have made significant, lifetime contributions to the creation of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activism"","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11064,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11064","url_meta":{"origin":9188,"position":5},"title":"Heinlein short story becomes a film","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Heinlein Books site\u00a0points to a positive review of the\u00a0film Predestination, which based on the\u00a0Robert Heinlein short story All You Zombies: Best Films of 2015 so far... 25.\u00a0Predestination\u00a0 Effective time travel films must be able to set clear, established rules and be a means of achieving greater, emotional weight .\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Sci-Fi"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Sci-Fi","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=hobbyspace&l=as2&o=1&a=B00QGL1P5G","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188","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=9188"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9192,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188\/revisions\/9192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}