Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

LCD 'Engine' For Spacecraft Attitude Control

Posted by kdawson on from the little-more-to-the-left dept.

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."

2 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Attitude Control by Abstrackt · · Score: 5, Funny

    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
  2. Re:Useful for stationkeeping? by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just wondering if it produces enough torque to control a real spacecraft.

    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.