Japan Space Yacht IKAROS (Video) Set For Blast-Off Today

"Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the
Sun - is a high tech space yacht, or kite, that will be sent
into space by a rocket today (May 18) and gather its
energy from the particles putting pressure on its sails."

See:

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/or....shtml?rssfeed

So.... having a sail makes it a Yacht?

wrote in news:36f48292-6f72-49d4-80b5-
:

"Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the
Sun - is a high tech space yacht, or kite, that will be sent
into space by a rocket today (May 18) and gather its
energy from the particles putting pressure on its sails."

See:

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/or....shtml?rssfeed

So.... having a sail makes it a Yacht?


Postponed, by inclement weather. Next launch attempt on
Thursday, May 20 at 5:58 pm EDT.

--Damon

(Damon Hill) wrote:
wrote in news:36f48292-6f72-49d4-80b5-
http://www.postchronicle.com/news/or....shtml?rssfeed

So.... having a sail makes it a Yacht?

Postponed, by inclement weather. Next launch attempt on
Thursday, May 20 at 5:58 pm EDT.

Not wanting to use it in inclement weather - aye, that's a point in
favor of it being a yacht.

--
djb@ | Dan Birchall, Night Operation Assistant, Subaru Telescope/NAOJ.
naoj | Views I express are my own, obviously not those of my employer.
..org | Our atmospheric inversion layer keeps silly people below 3000m.

Dan Birchall wrote:
Not wanting to use it in inclement weather - aye, that's a point in
favor of it being a yacht.

So, once under way, a solar flare or mass ejection would be the
equivalent of catching a puff?

rick jones
--
It is not a question of half full or empty - the glass has a leak.
The real question is "Can it be patched?"
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

Rick Jones wrote in
:

Dan Birchall wrote:
Not wanting to use it in inclement weather - aye, that's a point in
favor of it being a yacht.

So, once under way, a solar flare or mass ejection would be the
equivalent of catching a puff?

That's a good question...


--Damon

skrev i meddelelsen
...

"Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the
Sun - is a high tech space yacht, or kite, that will be sent
into space by a rocket today (May 18) and gather its
energy from the particles putting pressure on its sails."

See:

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/or....shtml?rssfeed

So.... having a sail makes it a Yacht?

Seems like a light sail, not a solar wind sail. Which is sensible since
sunlight has an order of magnitude or higher momentum flux than the solar
wind, gusty as it is, has on average, and can much more easily control the
thrust vector than I suppose some sort of magnetic mesh can control the
solar wind thrust. But the language in the article, although not directly
specifying, indicates that the solar wind is used. Did some journalist not
do his homework properly, or did I not?

Jon Lennart Beck.

On 5/18/2010 3:59 PM, Damon Hill wrote:
Rick wrote in
:

Dan wrote:
Not wanting to use it in inclement weather - aye, that's a point in
favor of it being a yacht.

So, once under way, a solar flare or mass ejection would be the
equivalent of catching a puff?

That's a good question...

It would depend on whether the material hitting the sail ricocheted off
of it, adding to its velocity, or got absorbed by it, adding to its
velocity, but also increasing its mass.
I imagine that will be one of the interesting aspects of the flight for
them to monitor, as this is the first time anyone has tried something
like this on any sort of large scale.
Several years back I read an article by a scientist who thought the
whole theory that solar sails were based on was wrong, and it just won't
work.
The will be quite surprised if that's the case. :-D

Pat

Successful launch and separation of (multiple payloads) spacecraft on
trajectory, May 20, 2010.


--Damon

Damon Hill wrote:
Successful launch and separation of (multiple payloads) spacecraft on
trajectory, May 20, 2010.

"Ready about!"

rick jones
--
firebug n, the idiot who tosses a lit cigarette out his car window
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

On May 19, 2:06*am, wrote:
"Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the
Sun - is a high tech space yacht, or kite, that will be sent
into space by a rocket today (May 18) and gather its
energy from the particles putting pressure on its sails."

What amazes me is not only is this a solar sail utilising ultrathin
and lightweight materials, but it also incorporates thinfilm solar
cells within the structure for electricity generation.

To top it off it only cost $16 million.