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    1. NASA newest solar sail system launched (2024-04-23)

      If this tech interests you keep an eye out for June/July when they expect to deploy the sail. Rocket Lab’s Electron blasted off at 6:32 p.m. ET on April 23, successfully delivering both payloads...

      If this tech interests you keep an eye out for June/July when they expect to deploy the sail.

      Rocket Lab’s Electron blasted off at 6:32 p.m. ET on April 23, successfully delivering both payloads to low Earth orbit. - Gizmodo

      .

      After a busy initial flight phase, which will last about two months and includes subsystems checkout, the microwave oven-sized CubeSat will deploy its reflective solar sail. The weeks-long test consists of a series of pointing maneuvers to demonstrate orbit raising and lowering, using only the pressure of sunlight acting on the sail. - NASA

      https://www.nasa.gov/mission/acs3/

      13 votes
    2. What are some good books to learn how the International Space Station works?

      There are many interesting videos about the ISS on YouTube, but I have a hard time committing video content to memory, and it is also difficult for me to create a mental picture of how things work...

      There are many interesting videos about the ISS on YouTube, but I have a hard time committing video content to memory, and it is also difficult for me to create a mental picture of how things work in that format.

      So, what are some good books (or maybe long-form articles) about the ISS that can help me understand it both functionally and spatially? Essentially, where everything is, what everything is for, and also how all the procedures actually work. I'm looking for both accessible introductions for the general public and more technical literature (although I am not in STEM, so something meant specifically for engineers might be too much for me).

      The purpose of the request is research for something I am writing. I intend it to be (kinda hard) science fiction, so I wanna be able to comfortably visualize and refer to all the spaces and moving parts with knowledge. I do wanna learn some jargon and what it's for, but I'm not building a space station in my garage :P

      It takes place in current times.

      I'm not against learning more about the history of the ISS, but my focus is really on how it is organized, what every part is meant to accomplish, and how the operations and procedures actually take place there. Including all the rules, methods, and inner works involving human beings, both in relation to the ISS and themselves.

      6 votes