In the mid-1970s, Carl Sagan spoke on American television about sailing through space using "solar wind". Both NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency have evaluated the concept of the solar sail at the start of this decade, but now it is LightSail's turn, a mission led by the Planetary Society, a non-profit organization founded by Sagan himself, and whose CEO today is Bill Nye, The Science Guy.
The Fuel-Free Future
Imagine eliminating the fuel factor from a space mission. The possibility of incorporating nuclear technology into spacecraft has been explored on several occasions, and ion engines have proven to be very efficient compared to traditional chemical solutions, but we still need elements like hydrogen, oxygen, uranium, plutonium, and even xenon. On the other hand, we have an extraordinary source of energy in the Solar System, and to learn about it we just need to look up. Granted, leaving the Earth's surface will remain the job of conventional rockets for many years, but once we are in space, solar radiation can do most of the heavy lifting. That's where so-called solar sails come in. These sails were mentioned as a primary propulsion method in several works of science fiction, but the Planetary Society's work is pure science. Following the path of past missions like IKAROS and NanoSail-D, it's now LightSail's turn.
The LightSail Mission
The plan was for LightSail to launch on May 6, but the U.S. Air Force interfered with its mysterious X-37B, so the mission must wait at least until the 20th of this month, without ruling out additional delays. LightSail consists of three CubeSat modules, which once in space will open four arms, all sharing the vital role of assisting in the deployment of the four triangular sails made of Mylar. The prototype's goal is exactly that: to verify that the sails can be opened in space without problems or loss of integrity. The second version of LightSail, which will probably be final, will be inside another satellite called Prox-1 and will be taken into orbit with one of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rockets.
A Cost-Effective Vision
LightSail holds monumental value for the Planetary Society, which carries the memory of Carl Sagan and his love for science, while also maintaining Bill Nye as its main representative, much better known as The Science Guy on the other side of the pond. However, LightSail's final price is much lower than we might imagine: $4.5 million for the entire program, of which $1.8 million were allocated to the spacecraft itself. This represents a fraction of what similar programs usually cost; therefore, LightSail's goal is not only technical but also economic. If it can be proven that good space science is possible at low cost, private research initiatives should multiply.
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