Weekly Space Hangout - Sailing Away Using Diffractive Solar Sails, with Amber Dubill

<p class="p1"><a href= "https://youtu.be/4wglbxajKpA">https://youtu.be/4wglbxajKpA</a></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Host:</strong> Fraser Cain ( <a href="https://twitter.com/fcain">@fcain</a> )</span><span class= "s2"><br /></span><span class="s1"><strong>Special Guest:</strong></span> Tonight we are very excited to welcome Amber Dubill from JHUAPL, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, to the WSH. Amber has worked on both IMAP and DART, and also has a keen interest in advanced solar sail design concepts.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">Solar sails have long been theorized as being a viable means of spacecraft propulsion — eventually — and we do seem to be moving closer to their being a reality… In June 2019, the Planetary Society successfully launched their crowdfunded, proof-of-concept LightSail 2, and it is still going strong! In fact, you can check on its current status here: <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbTMwMVVUWjFmckw0LWNHdVhJQWI4UmwtTUpYZ3xBQ3Jtc0tsTktlaU9NU2FSM3kxMEhnYUk4MXdBVEhaZ3JKV2FyajV6NGYtbHJfUEswX2d3czJoWkE4LU1aXzNmMHotaC1ndmhBbUc3YVlRNUhVbEpJYlJCcS1sZDlvWXd4dVg1NHpvSG11QktYbHEwM0JYSGFsSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.planetary.org%2Fsite%2FSPageNavigator%2Fmission_control.html"> https://secure.planetary.org/site/SPa...</a><span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">Meanwhile, in Rochester NY, Dr. Grover Swartzlander from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) was developing a new approach to solar sail design - one that could potentially allow spacecraft to photograph the poles of the sun for the first time! In April 2019 RIT and Dr. Swartzlander were awarded a 2019 NIAC Phase 2 award to explore the feasibility of diffractive solar sails! (<a href= "https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVppRUY5TzhDSFBWbGhQZjAwdTRRZGY3eFVLZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttN2sySFIwb0lSNXFPQWFVYkJyVmI0cktTNWI3TFZUMURnUzFxQzR6SkozUnNBQUJmZUhYWFpZQXQtcGIzblhQbVltOFpDSTJDd0EzRW1rY0ZZb