LightSail Solar Sail Deployed

An image taken by the LightSail CubeSat and downloaded on 437.435 MHz 9600 bps AX.25 packet radio has confirmed the deployment of its Solar Sail.

LightSail Altitude

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” @BillNye tweeted – This just in: a complete image of ‪#‎LightSail‬ in space! The future of space travel…

The sail started deploying at 1947 UT on June 7, 2015. It is expected that LightSail’s orbit will now decay rapidly resulting in the satellite burning up in the atmosphere in a matter of days.

If you wish to try catching a glimpse of LightSail as it soars across the sky there are viewing tips at
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2015/20150607-lightsail-deployment-initiatied.html

See a graph of the declining altitude

For the latest information read Jason’s blog on the Planetary Society website or follow him on Twitter
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/
http://twitter.com/@jasonrdavis

LightSail http://sail.planetary.org/missioncontrol

Bill Nye Boosts Science Guys and Girls: ‘Kids Are Natural Scientists’ on NBCNews.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/bill-nye-boosts-future-science-guys-girls-kids-are-natural-n370706