NASA ready to fly a kite in space with NanoSail-D

By William Atkins
Friday, 27 June 2008 18:32

Science - Space

As early as July 29, 2008, NASA will attempt to deploy a solar sail in space after launching it into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket.


The NanoSail-D will be launched from Omelek Island in the Pacific Ocean. Omelek Island is part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It is leased by the United States, along with other nearby islands, as part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.

The mission is being managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffitt Field, California.

Omelek Island is part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is controlled by the United States military under a long-term lease (along with ten other islands in the atoll) and is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.

The primary launch window for the unique craft is between July 29 and August 6. A backup window exists from August 29 to September 5, 2008.

The solar sail, when fully deployed in the shape of a kite, will have a solar-receiving area of 100 square feet (about 10 square meters).

It is made of aluminum and plastic, and will hauled up to space in a box about the size of a carry-on suitcase. It has a mass of about ten pounds (four kilograms).

The NanoSail-D will be placed in a 205-mile by 425-mile (330-kilometer by 685-kilometer) orbit about the Earth, with nine degrees of inclination. The mission is expected to last about seven days. At which time, the solar sail will be de-orbited.

The “D” in NanoSail-D does not stand for the fourth vehicle in a series, but instead, according to the mission team, can stand for “demonstrate, deploy, dray, and/or de-orbit.”

A device called the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD will deploy the solar sail. The University of California Polytechnic Institute developed it.

Two NASA teams are involved in the project. The Marshall Space Flight Center is lead by Edward “Sandy” Montgomery, and the Ames team is lead by Elwood Agasid.

Montgomery states, “There's a first time for everything.” He is referring to the fact that this will be the first attempt by NASA to deploy a solar sail.

Montgomery, who is the mission’s payload manager, adds, "NanoSail-D will be the first fully deployed solar sail in space, and the first spacecraft to use solar pressure as a primary means of attitude control or orbital maneuvering." [NASA: “NASA to Attempt Historic Solar Sail Deployment”]

For your information, a video of the spacecraft is also available on the NASA website.

Why is a solar sail so important for future mission around the solar system? Please read on.