Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science - LightSail Prepares to Take Flight

Episode Date: January 27, 2015

The Planetary Society has just announced that LightSail will be launched into orbit on its first test flight in May. We’ll talk with Project Manager Doug Stetson and embedded LightSail reporter Jason Davis about what to expect.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The LightSail Countdown begins this week on Planetary Radio. Welcome to the travel show that takes you to the final frontier. I'm Matt Kaplan of the Planetary Society that is celebrating the January 26th announcement of the LightSail-A mission. We'll talk with project manager Doug Stetson and embedded reporter Jason Davis about this test of innovative solar sailing technology. Bill Nye will add his thoughts in the company of a special guest. Later, we'll join Bruce Betts for our regular What's Up Sail Across the Night Sky, including the Space Trivia Contest. Getting us started is senior editor Emily Lakdawalla with an extended two-mission report

taking us to a comet and the red planet. Emily, two great reviews in the blog this week. Let's start with the brand new one, and that is your take on the reams of Rosetta data and pictures released just last week. Very nice stuff. It's the event we've all been waiting for. Finally, there are peer-reviewed publications in print and Science Magazine, eight research papers on the Rosetta results

at Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and they include, finally, the release of a huge pile of OSIRIS camera images. OSIRIS is the science camera on Rosetta. One of the images that they released is down to 15 centimeters per pixel, so we're seeing exquisite detail on the surface of this comet. You have picture after picture here, so many of them with features that you could just stare at for, I don't know, an hour. And I imagine a lot of these scientists are doing exactly that. It's just a crazy landscape. I mean, the comet is weird to begin with because it has this two lobe shape and that does strange things to the gravity fields. You have some places that are low and flat and they seem to be filled with dust. It's probably actually basically comet snow.

It's stuff that's gotten vented. Particles were too big to escape so they fell back down and you have these comet snow fields. And then you have these incredibly steep cliffs and the steep cliffs in many places are fractured. They have these parallel fractures. And that's extremely strange because it suggests that the interior of the comet is strong. It's held together. It's coherent in order for you to be able to perform parallel fractures like this. And yet, we know that the whole comet has a porosity of like 70% to 80%.

70% to 80% of it is void space. I looked up a paper on snow physics and found that fresh new fallen snow is 90% void space. You can have a kind of old snow that has that crust on the surface that is more like the 70 to 80% that they're reporting. So it's conceivable, but it's still really hard for me to understand how this stuff can fracture so coherently. So it's both, it's wonderful to see the pictures, you can see structures in the comet you've never seen before, you feel like you're understanding something, but the more you poke at it, the less you understand. Has anybody begun to guess at what could be causing these things that look for all the world or all the solar system like wind-driven dunes?

Yeah, that's an interesting one. So they're the features. They really do look like sand dunes. And in the paper that describes these pictures, they talk about maybe vents, you know, that the comet does outgas and there could be gas venting that's dense enough to in the low gravity to make sand dune features. At the same time, I attended the American Geophysical Union meeting in December, when I saw another guy who, by the way, is the 28th author on the same paper who doubted that explanation. So I don't know, I think the jury's

still out. All right, before we leave this, and of course, people should take a look at it, it's going to be a blog entry that Emily had posted on Monday, the 26th, as this show became available. But as the features of this comet are named, you heard somebody notice something very humorous. Well, the features on the comet are named for Egyptian deities, as befits the Rosetta mission. And there is a little flat area on the neck called Happy, and there is another area higher up on the head called Baby, so now we have the Happy Baby region on the set.

I'm sorry, the comet. Who could ask for more? I don't know. All right, let's jump over to a slightly older piece that you posted on the 22nd. It is one of your periodic update status reports on Curiosity, which you point out is becoming more and more a red rover. It is. It's done another self-portrait. Self-portraits, Curiosity typically takes when she starts drilling.

So that tells you that they're going with some drilling activity. This one was a little scary to write because it had been more than two months since my last update. And the funny thing is that Curiosity had not moved from the present location in those two months. Well, actually, the rover had. She had just returned to the same location in those two months. She's at a site called Pahrump Hills, which is the first major outcrop of Mount Sharp material. She has now completed two circuits of the outcrop, doing what a geologist does, walking the outcrop first Mount Sharp material. She has now completed two circuits of the outcrop, doing what a geologist does, walking the outcrop first, looking around. The second circuit, she put her

magnifying lens down on the outcrop and took some APXS elemental measurements. And now the third and final pass will be to do some drilling. But first, Curiosity has to do a flight software upgrade. That took all last week. It seems like it's probably gone okay. So they'll be ready to continue drilling this week. And I thought it took me a long time to do software upgrades. You know, these photos that you've included in this update, some of them, as we've almost grown to expect, are oddly familiar, like images I've seen in the Southwest. But you also saw features that seem to be completely unique and baffling. Yeah, you know, Mars, it's really hard to comprehend the differences between Mars and Earth.

And a major one that we're seeing here, especially inside Gale Crater, is how long wind has had to sculpt these landscapes. So you have rocks that are made of very thin layers that never, ever get wet. And they just have wind sandblasting them over eons, hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of years. And they erode these thin plates of rock. It looks like they're levitating. And I expect that if you walked over there and just touched it with your finger, the whole structure might collapse. They're probably incredibly delicate.

But right now, they're just standing out there, these thin plates of rock just suspended off the edges of shelves, and all kinds of other really cool features in the wind-eroded landscape. Well, they are beautiful, highly recommended. It is, as I said, a January 22nd posting by Emily, this update on Curiosity, still exploring Mars. And be sure to get out your red-blue 3D glasses so that you can fully enjoy an absolutely stunning image of Salisbury Peak in 3D. Emily, thank you so much for this extended report and I'll talk to you again next week. Look forward to it, Matt. She's our senior editor, the planetary evangelist for the Planetary Society

and a contributing editor to Sky and Telescope magazine. Up next, we kick off our special light sale coverage with a backstage visit talking with the CEO of the Planetary Society, Bill Nye. It was another beautiful Sunday afternoon in Pasadena, California. I parked at the California Institute of Technology and went in search of the Planetary Society's CEO, Bill Nye. He was at Caltech to talk about his new book, Undeniable, in front of a standing room only crowd. As I walked across the campus, there were fewer than 24 hours remaining before a long-anticipated announcement would

finally be made by Bill and the Society. I wanted to get it directly from the science guy. What I didn't expect was that we'd also be able to talk with a special guest, someone who would shortly be hosting Bill on stage. Bill, we are backstage at Beckman Auditorium. In a few moments, you'll be on stage with your special guest for the segment today, Michael Shermer of the Skeptic Society, because you'll be talking about an undeniably great book. It is undeniably great. No, it's my book, Undeniable Evolution, the Science of Creation. I'm here with Michael Shermer, longtime friend and academic colleague who contributed. He helped me write the book. Provider of a blurb on the back, I know. Yes, well, I wrote the blurb. You call that a contribution?

We took a lunch meeting. We had a lunch meeting. Your people called my people, and we did lunch, and we wrote the book in an afternoon. Yeah, it was great. This is a good book. No, really, seriously. This should be read by kids, adults, grandparents. Everybody should read this book.

That's well worth talking about, but it's a space show, and you have a big announcement that Michael may also be excited about. Yes, so this week we are announcing the launch of LightSail. We have a launch. The Planetary Society is going to launch a solar sail spacecraft. The last time we tried this was in 2005 on a Russian rocket. It is somewhere in the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea specifically. But this is on an Atlas V, a time-honored, venerable rocket. Yes. They don't fail. No, they very seldom. And so we are going to get this thing

on orbit. And I'm pretty sure we're going to have a fabulous deployment. We're going to see some wonderful pictures. And we will be advancing space science and exploration. We'll be talking with Doug Stetson, the project manager, in a moment, and with our own Jason Davis, our embedded reporter in the project. So we'll hear what they have to say as well. But, Michael, you deal with science, real science as well. I wonder, is this an exciting thing for someone coming from the skeptic side? Oh, yes.

Well, I think, is this an exciting thing for someone coming from the skeptic side? Oh, yes. Well, I think Carl would be proud. This was, you know, Sagan had talked about this decades ago, and this is one of those things that's finally nice to see come to fruition. Assuming it all goes well and deploys and all that stuff, you know, space travel is a lot harder than most people think, as Elon Musk can probably tell you. But I think, you know, that's the wave of the future is, you know, we have to leave the planet, so this is a good start. To the stars. On photons.

At Astra on photons. Yeah, it's an exciting thing. And just before we go, Michael has a book out this week also, The Moral Arc, which I've read. I wrote a blurb for, and it's really, it's a cool idea. Everybody, I think, should embrace it. You have a ways to catch up with him. He's way ahead of you just in book count.

Oh, I know. Yeah, well. Yeah, but I'm way behind on TV count. The longest journey starts with but a single step. Can I write that down? Can I use that in my next book? Oh, my God. No, we're going to the stars.

First week of May, light sail is going to fly. Thank you, gentlemen. Michael Shermer, head of the Skeptic Society, about to be on stage with the CEO of the Planetary Society, Bill Nye, the science guy. It was a great show that afternoon at Caltech, but an even bigger show is approaching. After the break, we'll talk with light sail project manager Doug Stetson and the Planetary Society's embedded light sail reporter, Jason Davis. This is Planetary Radio. Hi, Mary. Can I borrow a couple of eggs? Sure, Marge. I'll get them from the fridge. Oh, darn. Look at this mess. All my refrigerator magnets have clumped together again. Mary, you need

magnetic monopole refrigerator magnets from the Roswell Wonder Company. They're guaranteed to never clump. Gee, thanks, Marge. I'll order my magnetic monopole refrigerator magnets today. The Roswell Wonder Company, putting alien technology to work for you, not an actual company. Random Space Fact! Nothing new about that for you, planetary radio fans, right? Wrong! Random Space Fact is now a video series, too. And it's brilliant, isn't it, right? Wrong! Random Space Fact is now a video series too. And it's brilliant, isn't it, Matt? I hate to say it, folks, but it really is. And hilarious. See? Matt would never lie to you, would he? I really wouldn't. A new Random Space Fact video is released each Friday at youtube.com slash planetary society. You can subscribe to join our growing community and you'll

never miss a fact. Can I go back to my radio now? Welcome back to Planetary Radio. I'm Matt Kaplan. We're devoting most of today's show to the upcoming launch of LightSail A. It won't be the first sail in space, but it will be the first to emerge from the tiny form of a CubeSat. We've talked about these before. The most basic CubeSat is, you guessed it, a cube, but it wouldn't hold many Borg at just 10 centimeters or about four inches on a side. LightSail will be a three-unit CubeSat measuring 10 by 10 by 30 centimeters. Think of a loaf of bread. Yet its fully deployed sails will spread out to 32 square meters. It was on our first show of 2015 that Jason Davis hinted about the big announcement to come.

Jason is a digital editor and producer for the Society. He reports on human spaceflight, but he's also our embedded correspondent for the LightSail project. He has been blogging about LightSail for months and is also supporting the new dedicated website you'll find at sail.planetary.org. That's where you can watch the video he has created. I rang up Jason via Skype a few days

ago. Also joining us was Doug Stetson, the LightSail project manager. Jason and Doug, thank you very much for joining us on Planetary Radio for this big week for the Planetary Society and for the LightSail mission. Doug, I'd like to start with you. Could you give us an idea of what is going to happen with this first LightSail spacecraft, LightSail A? Sure, Matt. I'd be glad to, and thanks for the chance to talk to you. Yeah, it's really good news.

We're very excited. We're on our way to launch, on our way to the launch pad anyway, with LightSail A. The spacecraft has been buttoned up inside the P-Pod, which is the carrier for all of the CubeSats. It's now been integrated with the carrier of the P-Pods, which is being done at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. And then shortly it's going to be shipped over to Florida for launch on an Atlas V. So LightSail A is our opportunity for a test flight of the LightSail spacecraft. And this will be launched in the middle of May this coming year, just in a few months. It's our opportunity to validate that the design of the spacecraft works properly, that all of the functions go as expected, and that we can actually deploy this solar sail.

And so this is in preparation for our main launch, what we call LightSail B, which will be in the middle of next year, 2016. So LightSail A is a test. This is only a test. But it's a great opportunity for us to really verify that the design of the spacecraft is proper, all the subsystems are functioning normally, and that they will allow the spacecraft to reach orbit, power up, communicate with Earth, and then deploy the sail. So all of that will be done autonomously, automatically, after ejection from the sail. So all of that will be done autonomously, automatically after ejection from

the carrier. The mission will actually be fairly brief, just a few weeks since we'll be in somewhat of a low orbit. We won't have a long lifetime for LightSail A. After launch, we'll have about a couple, two weeks to check out the spacecraft, two or three three weeks and then we'll be deploying the sail shortly after that. The sail itself is deployed in just a few minutes and we'll be getting some pictures back that verify that the sail has come out properly and is fully deployed and then we'll be able to go through several days maybe up to a week of orbits around Earth testing out the light sail systems. It should be easily visible from the ground, so everybody will be able to look up and see light sail as it's crossing the skies.

After probably about a week, maybe 10 days, the orbit will begin to decay, and we'll eventually reenter the atmosphere. But this will be a really important test flight for us to get ready for the main launch next year. Can't wait to see those pictures coming back from Lightsail A and that new shooting star going across the sky as well. Doug, explain to us why there won't actually be any solar sailing for this mission anyway. Well, it's purely a matter of the orbit altitude. In order for a solar sail to work properly, it has to be high enough above Earth so that it is outside most of the atmospheric drag. And that means the altitude has to be above about 700 kilometers, maybe a little bit higher than

that, to do true solar sailing. Now, this particular launch that we're going into is an elliptical orbit, so it's not circular, but it will not be high enough to be outside of the atmosphere, the upper reaches of the atmosphere. That means that the atmospheric drag will actually overcome the solar radiation pressure, and we will not be able to actually measure solar sailing. However, we will have the ability to deploy the sail and see how it behaves, make sure that the booms function properly and that the sail itself is in good condition. All the deployment systems are working. So really, we're going to be able to validate all of the key functions in advance of our actual solar sailing flight to a higher altitude.

And as I said, that will be middle of next year. This is an Air Force mission, of course. What can we say, if anything, about why the Air Force is putting this rocket up? And they were kind enough to take us along for the ride. Well, it's actually a partnership with NASA. NASA has a program which they refer to as ELANA. It stands for Educational Launch of Nanosatellites. The Planetary Society was very fortunate to be selected for a spot through the

ILANA program a few years ago when the light sail program was first getting started. So they awarded us a launch slot, actually a free launch, funded by NASA. And so it's a partnership between NASA and the other agencies to allow spacecraft that are built by educational institutions, such as the Planetary Society, to have an opportunity to reach orbit and conduct these types of experiments. So we're really very fortunate that, you know, that we have this opportunity and we're taking advantage of it for our test flight. Jason, let me turn to you as the person who will be keeping the rest of us most in touch with this mission as we lead up to launch. And then, of course, while it's up there in low Earth orbit, how will you be tracking this and how will the public be able to follow along? Well, sure. We are releasing a brand new website specifically for LightSail. It's designed to be seen on any screen size, any device. So whether you look at

it on a computer or a mobile phone, you always get all the information in a really easy to use format. And that's going to have all of our basic information about the spacecraft as well as media resources like images and videos. But we're also currently developing an add-on to that called a dashboard that will have all the spacecraft's current information available for the public to see in near real time, we're hoping. Cal Poly, our partners, one of the ground stations that will be receiving the information from LightSail. That's Cal Poly San Luis Obispo here in California. Yes. They're working with us to funnel some of that data over, and we'll be displaying it on a web page.

So anyone that is interested can see the stats like the temperature of the spacecraft, the orientation. And then we're also going to try to display some ground tracks to show people where it is and when the sails come out. That'll give people an idea of where to look. And as Doug mentioned, you know, it will be a short mission once the sails come out. But we hope in those couple of days while it's up there that people will be able to use our website to see where it is and maybe be able to catch a glimpse of it as it goes overhead. Gentlemen, we're about out of time. Where will the two of you be for launch of this

pretty exciting proof of concept? Well, I expect that we'll, at least I'll be in California at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. That's our primary mission operations center for LightSail. So when the data begin to come down, that's where we'll get the first look at it. And for any commanding of the spacecraft that we're able to do, that's where we'll be talking about exactly what to do with the spacecraft, putting together the commands and sending them up from Cal Poly. So that's where I'll be. And I'll probably go for the flashier option and worm my way down to Cape Canaveral so I can watch a rocket go up in the air. But then I'll definitely come out to Cal Poly afterwards, definitely for the sail deployment. I want to be out there to capture this team's reaction in real time because they've just done a fantastic job getting this

thing ready for flight. And that moment when the sails come out, that's going to be a big one and definitely want to be among them to watch it all happen. Jason, you need anybody to carry your bags down there to Florida? I think so, Matt. We could use an extra hand. Yeah, so come on down. I'm going to start lobbying the science guy right now to put up the money. But if not, I sure hope to join you in San Luis Obispo as we monitor the progress of LightSail A. Gentlemen, thank you very much. This is certainly not the last time that we will talk as we lead up to this launch expected in May of this year. We'll talk to you again soon. Okay, thanks, Matt. Thanks, Matt.

That's Doug Stetson, the project manager for LightSail, the Planetary Society's solar sail project, and Jason Davis, a digital editor for the Society, who is the embedded reporter, our embedded reporter, with the project. Time for What's Up on Planetary Radio. Here is Bruce Betts, the Director of Science and Technology for the Planetary Society, that group that we've actually just been talking about. Welcome back. Thank you. Good to be back, Matt. So many other things to talk about. A big response, big rebound in the number of entries in the contest this week.

But tell us about the night sky. Oh, and may I say in just a quiet, reserved way, I saw the comet. I saw the comet. Yes. I'd be a little scared what it would be if it weren't quiet and reserved. Well, good job. Yes, Comet Lovejoy, still up there. It's starting to dim, getting tougher to see, and you'll need binoculars or

a telescope or Matt to help you out. See? Up there. So yeah, yeah, greenish comet, Comet Lovejoy. But again, even from a really dark side, probably not naked eye right now, but maybe a little fuzzball if you look at it in binoculars or a telescope. Did you see a fuzzball, Matt? Absolutely. It was definitely a fuzzball. At first, I thought, that's some kind of nebula. I thought, no, it's too big to be a nebula. It must be the comet.

That or Superman. I don't know. That's no nebula. It's really obscure. So anyway, also in the evening, much easier to see than the comet, though I don't know whether it's more exciting or not, are Venus and Jupiter. In the early evening, you can look to the west after sunset, check out super bright Venus. And pretty much the same time, or at least within an hour or so later, you can look over to the east and check out very bright Jupiter coming up. Then Mars is still up low in the west as well, much dimmer than Venus and higher up. We've got Saturn coming up in the

middle of the night. Lovely crowded sky. We move on to this week in space history. We once again have come around to the sad week in the American space program that we remember. Every American astronaut death that occurred in a spacecraft accident occurred during this week. 1967 Apollo 1 fire, 1986 Challenger disaster, and 2003 Columbia disaster. So we remember them as we pass through this remembrance week again this year. We will continue to do this every year. Certainly well worth remembering. On to random space fact.

You know, that kind of frequency sweep could be very useful to me in producing the show. Glad I could help. The flyby of asteroid 2004 BL86 that's just occurred is the closest of any known space rock this large until 2027. It was about a half kilometer in diameter, passing three lunar distances, so still not any danger that it was ever going to come and hit. But a little

reminder that there are big things out there flying around in space. But as far as we know, none that big coming by Earth until 2027. On to the contest. So we asked you, to the nearest half hour, how long did it take the Huygens probe from the Cassini-Huygens mission to descend through the Titan atmosphere to the surface of Titan. How'd we do, Matt? Everyone had the same answer. First, this one from George Mathis. Not our winner this week, but George in Edison, New Jersey.

I mention it because he provides a free plug for your class. Thanks, Dr. Betts. I'm watching and reading along with the videos on YouTube. You want to take this opportunity to remind folks? will be occurring very, very soon. First class is Wednesday, February 4th, and that will be, again, at California State University, Dominguez Hills, but will be broadcast live over the internet while it's happening, if you want to log in while it's happening

at 3 o'clock Pacific time, or you can just look for the archives on planetary.org slash bestclass. We'll get the information up there in the next few days of exactly what you need to do. In the meantime, you can always enjoy last year's class. So just to be clear, that's an introduction to planetary science and astronomy college class. Students in California high school students can take it for credit, but anyone can watch and enjoy.

It is a great class. Gets better each time. You can tune in just as you heard. Here is the person that Random.org selected as our winner this week. Joe Plassman of Tucson, Arizona, who said, along with everybody else, from the top of Titan's atmosphere to the surface, it took Huygens a little less than two and a half hours. Excellent. Long duration, by the way. A combination when compared to Earth of lower gravity, more atmosphere, and a higher atmosphere due to the lower gravity. Joe, you've won, and that means you're going to get the year

in space desk and wall calendars. So congratulations, still early in the year. You'll get a lot of fun out of those, I am sure, and amaze your friends at space geek cocktail parties. We also heard from Ray Duvall. He was one of many people who found things to compare the two and a half hours to. But I think Ray in Galena, Ohio, had the best. Two and a half hours are about the same amount of time it takes my 12-year-old daughter to get ready to leave the house.

Similar challenges, I guess. I'm with you, Ray. I had two. I still do have two. Okay, how about next time? Speaking of big asteroids, Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta are the largest known asteroids. What is the fourth largest? Go to planetary.org slash radio contest.

Get us your entry. You have until Tuesday, February 3rd at 8 a.m. Pacific time to get us the answer this time. And we'll do this one more time. Another set of year and, excuse me, another set of desk and wall calendars, year in space calendars. And we'll throw in a Planetary Radio t-shirt. What a prize package. All right, everybody, go out there. Look up at the night sky and think about holographic doctors.

Thank you and good night. He's Bruce Betts. Oh, yeah, the good doctor. I've heard that he's going to be appearing in a random space fact with you. That should be great fun. Friend of the Planetary Society, when he materializes anyway. That's Bruce Betts, though, who has been talking with us about what's up in the sky. He'll be back next week for the next edition of What's Up.

Please state the nature of your planetary emergency. Planetary Radio is produced by the Planetary Society in Pasadena, California, and is made possible by the solar sailing members of the Society. The light sail website is sail.planetary.org. Our theme was created by Josh Doyle. I'm Matt Kaplan. Clear skies.