Slashdot Mirror
LCD 'Engine' For Spacecraft Attitude Control
Bruce Perens writes "Japan's IKAROS satellite, which earlier performed the first successful demonstration of a solar sail, has broken more new ground. Liquid-crystal displays — yes, like in your video monitor — were fabricated into strips on the edges of the solar sail. By energizing some of the LCDs and changing the reflective characteristics of parts of the sail from specular to diffuse, JAXA scientists successfully generated attitude control torque in the sail, changing the spacecraft's orientation."
I can imagine. Living with a husband who makes comments like that must be stressful.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
just some light torque, i would think.
rewriting history since 2109
What, exactly, do you mean by a 'real spacecraft'.
IKAROS is real. It's in space. It's actually using this.
Have I missed something? From what I can tell, this is about as real as you can get.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Hello, this is Captain Jean Luc Picard.
On the bridge of the Enterprise, I have no problems with Number One. Number two is a different matter. That's why I use Star Fleet brand enemas. With a Star Fleet Enema, I can boldy go like no one has gone before!
The enemies of Democracy are
Crookes believed that his radiometer was turned by light pressure, but he was wrong! It's actually a phenomenon of low-pressure gas moving around a temperature differential. If you pump your radiometer down to a really good vaccumm, it stops working! The light pressure is not sufficient to conquer the bearing friction.
There's a good explanation in Wikipedia.
Bruce Perens.
It seems you don't get solar wind in a magnetosphere, so the two systems each work best where the other won't.
Bruce Perens.