* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: IKAROS mission

Blobrana · L

IKAROS

Blobrana · L

Sail-powered spacecraft to be launched by Japan

Ikaros - which stands for Interplanetary Kite-Craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun - works on the same principle as a yacht, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
It will be launched from the island of Tanegashima aboard an H-IIA rocket before unfurling its ultra-thin membrane "sail" - half the thickness of a human hair - once it is in space.
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Blobrana · L

Maiden voyage for first true space sail

Icarus's wings melted when he flew too close to the sun. Here's hoping a similar fate doesn't befall his namesake, the solar sail due to be unfurled by Japan's aerospace exploration agency (JAXA) next week. If all goes to plan, it will be the first spacecraft fully propelled by sunlight.
Solar sails like IKAROS, short for Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun, aim to move forward by harnessing the momentum of photons colliding with it. The idea may be decades old, but solar sails have remained largely untested. Several sails have been unfurled at the edge of space, and spacecraft like NASA's Mercury probe, Messenger, have used the pressure of sunlight to alter trajectories. But no spacecraft has used a sail as its primary means of propulsion.
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Blobrana · L

The Japanese space agency, flushed with the success of its origami space orbiter and zero-gravity sushi experiments, is poised for another spectacular leap into the cosmos: the launch of the first "space yacht".
In three weeks' time, in a trial run that is expected to captivate space researchers and science-fiction writers alike, a Mitsubishi H-IIA rocket will be sent into orbit from the island of Tanegashima and release its small satellite into the void.
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Blobrana · L

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to launch the world's first satellite powered by a giant solar sail to demonstrate next-generation renewable-energy technology, the agency said today.
The 20-metre sail, which cost about 1.5 billion yen ($16 million), will be wrapped around the "space yacht" during liftoff and will unfurl once the craft leaves the Earth's atmosphere
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Blobrana · L

The scheduled date of launch is at 6:44:14 a.m., 18th May, 2010 (Japan Standard Time), from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Centre.
The launch opportunity extends from the 19th May through to the 3rd June, 2010.

Blobrana · L

JAXA is studying two missions to evaluate the performance of solar power sails. The project name for the first mission is IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun). This craft will be launched in 2010 together with the Venus Climate Orbiter, "AKATSUKI"(PLANET-C), using an H-IIA launch vehicle. This will be the world's first solar powered sail craft employing both photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise.

IKAROS will be launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre using the H-IIA. After separation from H-IIA, it will spin at up to 20 rpm (revolution per minute), deploying the membrane and generating solar power by means of thin film solar cells (minimum success level) within several weeks. Acceleration and navigation using the solar sail will then be demonstrated (full success level) within half a year.

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