Tag: Interstellar Travel
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LightSail team declares success in solar sail experiment
This image was taken by a camera aboard the LightSail 2 satellite during the solar sail deployment sequence at 1849 GMT (2:49 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, July 23. Credit: The Planetary Society The gentle push of sunlight is slowly changing the orbit of the Planetary Society’s crowd-funded LightSail 2 satellite after it unfurled a thin…
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Privately-funded spacecraft now solar sailing in Earth orbit
This image was taken by a camera aboard the LightSail 2 satellite during the solar sail deployment sequence at 1848 GMT (2:48 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, July 23, over Baja California. Credit: The Planetary Society A nanosatellite launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket last month has unfurled a solar sail membrane and is using light…
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An interstellar interloper is dashing through our solar system
Artist’s concept of interstellar asteroid 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua) as it passed through the solar system after its discovery in October 2017. The aspect ratio of up to 10:1 is unlike that of any object seen in our own solar system. Image credit: European Southern Observatory / M. Kornmesser Astronomers say an object observed speeding through…
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Russian billionaire devotes $100 million to star flight initiative
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Entrepreneur Yuri Milner, holding up a prototype StarChip spacecraft he hopes to develop and, within a generation, launch to the nearest star using ground-based lasers and ultra-thin light sails. Credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Breakthrough Starshot Russian billionaire Yuri Milner plans to spend $100 million over the next…