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Bill Nye (The science guy) goes to Kickstarter to fund Sagan's solar-powered spacecraft

tangra
By tangra
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Bill Nye is going to kickstarted to fund the lightSail spacecraft. 

 

 

lightsail.jpg

 

 

The LightSail is blasting off to space (along with the X37B drone) for a test flight on May 20th, but the project still needs a lot more money for its first major mission in 2016. To be precise, Bill Nye and The Planetary Society still need a hefty $1.2 million, part of which they're now trying to raise via Kickstarter. The team set a more realistic $200,000 goal, but they do have stretch goals up until $1 million, which will cover the construction, testing and deployment of the final version, as well as LightSail's operations in space for a few months. Obviously, you can't get one of solar-powered spacecraft as a reward for backing the project, so you'll have to make do with posters, jackets and signed paraphernalia.

 

 

 

LightSail was originally conceptualized by Carl Sagan as a "solar sailer," a spacecraft that uses the sun's radiation for propulsion. The Planetary Society, a non-profit org headed by Bill Nye, is attempting to make its own version -- the current model is a CubeSat no bigger than a breadbox with four sails. If the team manages to raise enough money, LightSail will be sent to orbit (at an altitude of 447 miles) aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in 2016.

 

 

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/13/lightsail-kickstarter-sagan-nye/

 

Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theplanetarysociety/lightsail-a-revolutionary-solar-sailing-spacecraft/

 

It almost looks like this is made more for awareness and not that much for the money since, well the requested 200k look like really small amount for sending something something to space. Even the million in question sounds small.  Then again, the stardom of those guys alone will guarantee tons of money through Kickstarer. 

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Posted

Just saw this on Engadget. Looks really fucking awesome.

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c91ce8d422a7442b37bdda5e6855bf3c.png erm...it's already done. That was quick. 

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The only problem would be space trash/meteores ... 

... Life is a game and the checkpoints are your birthday , you will face challenges where you may not get rewarded afterwords but those are the challenges that help you improve yourself . Always live for tomorrow because you may never know when your game will be over ... I'm totally not going insane in anyway , shape or form ... I just have broken English and an open mind ... 

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I should start my own kick starter for a cnc mill. I could make people things as rewards.

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The only problem would be space trash/meteores ... 

 

thats why he is going up there with a laser gun!

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thats why he is going up there with a laser gun!

Not sure if humans are a viable option , reaction time would be too slow ... Better off sending a laser gun with automatic detection ... 

... Life is a game and the checkpoints are your birthday , you will face challenges where you may not get rewarded afterwords but those are the challenges that help you improve yourself . Always live for tomorrow because you may never know when your game will be over ... I'm totally not going insane in anyway , shape or form ... I just have broken English and an open mind ... 

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Not sure if humans are a viable option , reaction time would be too slow ... Better off sending a laser gun with automatic detection ... 

are you doubting Bills abilities?!

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are you doubting Bills abilities?!

Yes ... He's not an AI with enhance reflexs and eyesight ...

... Life is a game and the checkpoints are your birthday , you will face challenges where you may not get rewarded afterwords but those are the challenges that help you improve yourself . Always live for tomorrow because you may never know when your game will be over ... I'm totally not going insane in anyway , shape or form ... I just have broken English and an open mind ... 

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Yes ... He's not an AI with enhance reflexs and eyesight ...

 

Oh wait, "Delusional" Phil,  nevermind.

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Oh wait, "Delusional" Phil,  nevermind.

 

That's what where the name comes from ... Describes myself entirely ...

... Life is a game and the checkpoints are your birthday , you will face challenges where you may not get rewarded afterwords but those are the challenges that help you improve yourself . Always live for tomorrow because you may never know when your game will be over ... I'm totally not going insane in anyway , shape or form ... I just have broken English and an open mind ... 

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I'm *that guy*

 

Repost..

 

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/362146-bill-nyes-project-lightsail-spaceship-that-rides-solar-radiation/

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  • Author

 

The Kickstarter happened recently tho. (on the 12th) which is what I posted about. I see that it was edited on the last post. If the mods decide that it should not be in a separate article it should go away. 

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Edit: said something stupid that I couldn't back up.

- snip-

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I'd love to see a space rock smash through some of that tin foil and make it lose balance.

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Ah. Bill Nye. Hitchhiking off of other people's ideas.

Uhm.... what?

 

Yes, Carl Sagan came up with the idea. However, Bill Nye is responsible for the idea actually being developed and researched into something practical. They're co-conspirators that both had vital input. Also, Bill is currently the CEO of the Planetary Society, the organization responsible for this product being engineered (Of which Carl Sagan was a founding member). Neil Degrasse Tyson is also a board member of the Planetary Society.

 

I don't understand this view people have of him. Bill isn't claiming it as his own. He's not telling anyone he invented it. In fact, he often references Carl Sagan as the inventor of the idea when talking about it.

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... May just have to back this...

Just remember: Random people on the internet ALWAYS know more than professionals, when someone's lying, AND can predict the future.

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I'm not sure how I feel about the Kickstarter going up before the test flight prototype even launches, but damn, this is super super cool regardless.  I'm probably going to wait a few weeks, but most likely donating to this.  Donating directly to space flight!  Fuck yeah!

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The Kickstarter happened recently tho. (on the 12th) which is what I posted about. I see that it was edited on the last post. If the mods decide that it should not be in a separate article it should go away. 

It got updated .... hence i posted on that page

Its all about those volumetric clouds

 

 

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The only problem would be space trash/meteores ... 

 

The probability of crossing across "trash/rocks" are very low, do you know how vast space is mister? You could pass the asteroid belt in our solar system without even seeing one, that's how far they are from each other.  I am not saying is impossible, just very, very low. 

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Uhm.... what?

Yes, Carl Sagan came up with the idea. However, Bill Nye is responsible for the idea actually being developed and researched into something practical. They're co-conspirators that both had vital input. Also, Bill is currently the CEO of the Planetary Society, the organization responsible for this product being engineered (Of which Carl Sagan was a founding member). Neil Degrasse Tyson is also a board member of the Planetary Society.

I don't understand this view people have of him. Bill isn't claiming it as his own. He's not telling anyone he invented it. In fact, he often references Carl Sagan as the inventor of the idea when talking about it.

Fair enough. I should've done more research before jering circular. Sorry for being an ass.

- snip-

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Will he made it.

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He didn't lie about the minuscule. The actual sheet will need to be microns think in order to get any thrust. Still a very cool concept, but I don't see this taking us to interstellar space quickly. Someone's gotta build an albecurrie drive for that

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