{"410211":{"#nid":"410211","#data":{"type":"news","title":"LightSail-A Mission Control Team is on the Job","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe students of AE\u0027s Space Systems Design Lab (SSDL) had a unique way of celebrating today\u0027s 50th anniversary of America\u0027s first walk in space: they gathered in the third floor of the ESM building to serve as the mission control center for another space adventure, LightSail-A.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaunched May 20, as a part of the Atlas V payload, the tiny LightSail-A satellite was scheduled to deploy its solar panels today. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBy 4:00 p.m., all indications pointed to a successful deployment, says missions operations manager (\u0022MOM\u0022) Prof. David Spencer. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0022From the information we\u0027ve received, the panels are showing colder temperatures, which tells us that they have deployed,\u0022 said Spencer. \u0022We\u0027re also troubleshooting any problems we might have with the batteries, so that they are ready for Friday\u0027s deployment.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOn Friday, June 5,\u0026nbsp; the team will monitor another phase of the mission: the deployment of a tissue-thin, solar-powered \u0022sail\u0022 that is designed to capture some of the propulsive energy of the solar wind. If the concept proves itself, Lightsail could offer an alternative propulsive technology to heavy fuel in future space flights.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Georgia Tech-based mission control center is joined by another ground station at Cal Poly - both are monitorng how the inaugural deployment of this new technology goes. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt Georgia Tech, Spencer is assisted in his work by a team of SSDL students, who are collecting information on the performance of the satellite, the solar panels, and the solar sail. The data they collect will allow engineers to test and optimize all system designs for future deployments.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELightSail-A is sponsored by The Planetary Society and NASA\u0027s CubeSat Launch Initiative. Next year, a more comprehensive demonstration of the LightSail technology will be conducted via Lightsail-B, which will be launched from the Georgia Tech-built Prox-1 satellite.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFind out more about the\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/node\/1444\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProx-1 project.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EListen to this recorded transmission of mission control getting its first signals from LightSail-A. There\u0027s even a congratulations from Bill Nye, the Science Guy.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"GT-AE students are staffing a mission control center for the LightSail-A mission"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMost of the engineers staffing the mission control center for the LightSail A mission were not even born when the world watched the first American walk in space, June 3, 1965. But, 50 years later, these SSDL students mustered all the zeal of the earliest space pioneers when they started tracking this satellite and its unique technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GT effort is part of the LightSail Mission, sponsored by NASA, The Planetary Society"}],"uid":"27836","created_gmt":"2015-06-03 17:41:57","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:29","author":"Kathleen Moore","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-06-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-06-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"410191":{"id":"410191","type":"image","title":"LightSail-A","body":null,"created":"1449254195","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:35","changed":"1475895137","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:17","alt":"LightSail-A","file":{"fid":"202249","name":"lightsail-solar-sail300.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lightsail-solar-sail300_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lightsail-solar-sail300_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":81861,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lightsail-solar-sail300_0.jpg?itok=aX1KEU4v"}},"410201":{"id":"410201","type":"image","title":"The LightSail Mission Control Team","body":null,"created":"1449254195","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:35","changed":"1475895137","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:17","alt":"The LightSail Mission Control Team","file":{"fid":"202250","name":"dsc_0250.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0250_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0250_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4060321,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0250_0.jpg?itok=8aDmX7qA"}}},"media_ids":["410191","410201"],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["kathleen.moore@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}