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NASA Solar Sail Lost In Space

Posted by samzenpus on from the never-to-sail-again dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to Spaceflight Now: 'NASA has not heard from the experimental NanoSail-D miniature solar sail in nearly a week, prompting officials to wonder if the craft actually deployed from a larger mother satellite despite initial indications it ejected as designed.' NanoSail-D's spring-ejection was indicated at 1:31 a.m. EST Monday, leading to a predicted release of the spacecraft's sail membrane around 1:30 a.m. EST Thursday."

5 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Reason by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The reason it was lost is that it forgot to tack in a particularly bad solar wind.

  2. More like a ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Solar Fail!

    Ha ha! Ha ha! ... *vomits*

  3. not exactly rocket science by jandoedel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Solar sails are not exactly rocket science...

  4. Re:pics or it didn't happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    God damn it, you're right. I wish they hired people like you at NASA, instead of those brain dead twits. A camera? Brilliant. No one ever thought of that. Thank god for /. armchair rocket scientists!

  5. Re:Meanwhile in a /. a few lightyears away by Kjella · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nope. Both Voyager probes are well over a light-day away from earth. Voyager 1 being over 31 light-hours away. So it's more like .0035 ly

    Check your sources. It's about 116 AU or 16 light hours away.

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