THE PLANETARY REPORT JUNE SOLSTICE 2015 VOLUME 35, NUMBER 2 planetary.org WE DID IT! LIGHTSAIL’S WILD RIDE A NEW SPACE TELESCOPE C SHOEMAKER GRANT WINNERS C A PRACTICAL MARS STRATEGY DOUG STETSON managed The Planetary Society’s LightSail test program. A Perfect Launch… And A Dramatic, Triumphant Finish for LightSail’s Test Flight EXACTLY TWO HOURS after a perfect morning that the solar sail deployment system can suc- launch on Wednesday, May 20, our LightSail cessfully unfurl the 32-square-meter Mylar test flight spacecraft was released from its sail. This mission sets the stage for LightSail’s carrier into free flight. This moment marked primary flight in September 2016, when it To read Jason Davis’ mission a major milestone for The Planetary Society will conduct a full, multimonth demonstra- wrap-up, check out planet.ly/lsreentry and made good on the vision shared by tion of controlled solar sailing in Earth orbit. our founders and the thousands of Society Together, the two LightSail flights serve as a members who have supported solar sailing critical pathfinder for future solar sail missions for more than a decade. to the Moon and other planetary destinations. In fact, NASA is already planning two such missions for later this decade, and other space agencies, as well as private organizations, are eagerly following LightSail’s progress. DRAMA, THEN MISSION SUCCESS! As is typical of most space missions, the suc- cesses of the first few days were followed by moments of question and concern. We lost contact with the spacecraft for several days on two occasions, and in each case it took some creative detective work to understand the situation and re-establish communica- tions. Finally, the command was given to deploy the sail—we tried three times, and on the final attempt, on Sunday, June 7 we saw the motor spin and the sail finally start ABOVE On the morning Things got only better as, about an hour to deploy. This was confirmed by the beauti- of May 20, The Planetary later, the spacecraft deployed its antenna and ful image received on Tuesday, June 9. That Society’s dreams came true sent its first radio transmissions, confirming “mission success” photo has since been pub- when an Atlas V carried our LightSail test spacecraft that it was healthy and ready for its mission. lished worldwide, proving that the LightSail into the blue sky above As you probably know by now, the mission system is truly ready for prime time next year. Cape Canaveral, Florida. was not without moments of real concern The mission operations team led by profes- and uncertainty— but in the end, LightSail sors David Spencer of Georgia Tech and John fulfilled every goal of this test mission and set Bellardo of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, along us firmly on the path toward true solar sailing with their students and the spacecraft team at next year. Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation in Pasadena, went above and beyond to ensure the success Launch Alliance United Photo: PIONEERING SOLAR SAILING of LightSail test flight. Their achievement really Our firstLightSail flight may have been “only” belongs to all The Planetary Society members a test, but it was a very important test. This who have been so committed to the vision of brief, low-altitude flight tested the space- solar sailing and its promise of low-cost explo- craft’s hardware and software and confirmed ration throughout the solar system. 2 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2015 CONTENTS JUNE SOLSTICE 2015 COVER STORY A Perfect Launch… 2 Doug Stetson reports on LightSail’s dramatic test flight. Pushing Back the Frontier Jason Davis recounts The Planetary Society’s 6 history of advocating for a Pluto mission. A Wider View Jason Rhodes describes WFIRST, the new space 13 telescope on NASA’s drawing board. Crowdfunding Success 17 Richard Chute reports on our wildly successful Kickstarter campaign. DEVELOPMENTS IN SPACE SCIENCE Protecting Our World 20 Bruce Betts introduces the new NEO Shoemaker Grant winners. ADVOCATING FOR SPACE Humans Orbiting Mars 22 Casey Dreier discusses a new strategy. DEPARTMENTS 4 Your Place in Space Bill Nye celebrates a season of success. 12 Factinos Bright spots on Ceres. 18 Volunteer Spotlight Kate Howells highlights our volunteers in Mexico City. 19 Happening on Planetary Radio Mat Kaplan talks to the people who make space exploration happen. 19 On Planetary.org 21 What’s Up? The Perseids, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars! ON THE COVER: LightSail captured this shimmering self-portrait from Earth orbit on June 8, 2015. In a June 10 press statement, Planetary Society Chief Operations Officer Jennifer Vaughn summed up the project by saying, “This test mission has been a high-intensity, high- Photo: United Launch Alliance United Photo: profile dress rehearsal. Through the ups and downs of ourLightSail test flight, our members, backers, and supporters around the world have cheered us on. LightSail is a tangible symbol of citizen participation in space exploration. Behind the simple beauty of an image of a shiny sail in space lit by the Sun is the collective effort of tens of thousands of enthusiasts who got this project built, launched, and tested. This successful test flight belongs to all of us.” Image: The Planetary Society CONTACT US The Planetary Report (ISSN 0736-3680) is published quarterly at the Editor DONNA E. STEVENS The Planetary Society editorial offices of The Planetary Society, 60 South Los Robles Avenue, Art Director LOREN A. ROBERTS for HEARKEN CREATIVE 60 South Los Robles Avenue Pasadena, CA 91101-2016, 626-793-5100. It is available to members of The Copy Editor AXN ASSOCIATES Pasadena, CA 91101-2016 Planetary Society. Annual dues in the United States are $37 (U.S. dollars); Technical Editor JAMES D. BURKE General Calls: 626-793-5100 in Canada, $40 (Canadian dollars). Dues in other countries are $57 (U.S. Science Editor BRUCE BETTS E-mail: [email protected] dollars). Printed in USA. Third-class postage at Pasadena, California, and at Chief Operating Officer JENNIFER VAUGHN Internet: planetary.org an additional mailing office. Canada Post Agreement Number 87424. Director of Communications ERIN GREESON Viewpoints expressed in articles and editorials are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent positions of The Planetary Society, its officers, or its advisers. © 2015 by The Planetary Society. All Rights Reserved. The Planetary Society and The Planetary Report: Registered Trademarks ® The Planetary Society. Planetary Radio and Planetfest™ The Planetary Society. YOUR PLACE IN SPACE COFOUNDERS CARL SAGAN BILL NYE is chief executive 1934–1996 officer of The Planetary Society. BRUCE MURRAY 1931–2013 LOUIS D. FRIEDMAN Executive Director Emeritus BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman of the Board DANIEL T. GERACI Founder & co-CEO Arithmos Financial Innovations The Big Picture President JAMES BELL The Society Takes Small Steps Toward Ambitious Goals Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University Vice President HEIDI HAMMEL THE STAFF AND I WERE mesmerized at Cape space science and exploration in the biggest of Executive Vice President, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Canaveral in May, overjoyed as we watched pictures by taking measured, near-term steps. Chief Executive Officer BILL NYE the successful launch of our LightSail test LightSail’s successful test flight reflects our Science Educator flight. Four and a half weeks later, I went out commitment—and yours. Thank you. Secretary C. WALLACE HOOSER onto the roof of my building in New York To further our progress up there, we Associate Professor of Radiology, University of Texas and stared into the night sky. I oriented my created a Kickstarter campaign to fund next Southwestern Medical School G. SCOTT HUBBARD gaze with what apparently is a very accurate year’s primary LightSail flight. If you followed Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, compass or azimuth indicator application on the test flight, you know there are several Stanford University my smartphone. I shrugged, because there key problems to be solved. The Kickstarter Treasurer LON LEVIN were a few high cirrus clouds, and the bright campaign will ensure that our engineers have SkySevenVentures ALEXIS LIVANOS lights of the big city made the whole sky glow the resources they need to track down these Research Professor, Faculty Associate anyway. I figured I’d be weathered out again— tricky software issues, so that next year’s Engineering & Applied Science, California Institute of Technology there would be nothing to see. launch aboard a Space-X Falcon Heavy will JOHN LOGSDON Professor Emeritus, Space Policy Institute, About 20 seconds after what I believed was put us on orbit for a fantastic mission during The George Washington University the expected first moment, there it was—our which we will demonstrate sailing by the BIJAL “BEE” THAKORE Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific, LightSail, just a pinprick of light in the glowing pressure of light. Space Generation Advisory Council sky. It was moving pretty fast at this point in If you’ve been to our website in the last few NEIL deGRASSE TYSON Astrophysicist and Director, Hayden Planetarium, the mission. As atmospheric drag started to months, I hope you noticed the video showing American Museum of Natural History bring it down closer to Earth, its orbital speed Carl Sagan’s 1976 appearance on The Tonight FILLMORE WOOD Vice President and Regional Counsel, naturally increased. I followed it, transfixed. It Show with Johnny Carson. In it, he’s showing BP, retired INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL was just our spacecraft and me. Johnny a model of a solar sail that was being ROGER-MAURICE BONNET Executive Director, It had been a tough few weeks for our team, proposed to catch up with Comet Halley. International Space Science Institute following a tough few years and a few tough The model was square and very shiny, just YASUNORI MATOGAWA Associate Executive Director, program management decisions.