Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 7

5
Wsof
the Light Sail
Who
A light sail developed by Cornell's Space Systems
Design Studio (SSDS) could one day propel
small spacecraft through interstellar realms.
What
Much like a sailboat harnesses wind to travel
across an ocean, light sails use the momentum
of sunlight to travel through space. The
" Sailing to the Stars " project is Cornell's
unique version of a light sail that includes a
poster-size sheet of microprismatic retroreflective
film equipped with " ChipSat " spacecraft
- miniature satellites that weigh only
2.5 grams and can transmit data to Earth.
The size of the sail, combined with its
shape-memory alloy frame, allows it to fold
inside a small deployer that can eject the sail,
with the goal of sending it on a journey to nearby planets and, possibly one day, another star system. The sail's
deployment dynamics will be tested in microgravity, thanks to a grant from the Center for the Advancement of
Science in Space's International Space Station National Laboratory. The SSDS team is engineering new versions of
their light sails and deployers for the experiment.
Cornell students and founding members of Sailing to the Stars, from left: Raghav
Inder, Ethan Francolla, Ryan Lee, Joshua Umansky-Castro, Verena Padres,
and Adam Yonas. (Image: Joshua Umansky-Castro)
Where
Ithaca, NY
Why
Light sails are an emerging technology that could one day enable exploration of the solar system and beyond. Missions
like SSDS's Alpha CubeSat are striving to create smaller light sails that could be accelerated faster, ultimately to
reach the closest star system within a reasonable period of time.
When
The Cornell team plans to use the light sail for its Alpha CubeSat mission expected to launch in 2025, which will be
the first to demonstrate a ChipSat-sail architecture in orbit.
For more information, contact Kaitlyn Serrao at kms465@cornell.edu; 607-882-1140.
Tech Briefs, April 2024
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Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024

Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - Intro
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - Sponsor
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - Cov2
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 1
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 2
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 3
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 4
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 5
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Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 16A
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 16B
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 16C
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 16D
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Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - Cov3
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - Cov4
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - MD-Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - MD-Cov2
Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - MD-1
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Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - MD-Cov3
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