SOLAR SAILING

Two pioneering missions are preparing to set sail and you can be aboard!

Lightsail, a project of The Planetary Society, will merge the ultra-light technology of nanosats with the ultra-large technology of solar sails setting a course to the stars. LightSail-1 is the beginning of an innovative program that will launch three separate spacecraft over the course of several years.

IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is a solar sail which gathers sunlight as propulsion by means of a large sail. This solar powered sail craft will employ both photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise. IKAROS will be launched together with the Venus Climate Orbiter, 'Akatsuki' in fiscal 2010 by JAXA.

People around the world are encouraged to send names alone or in combination with a message.
Simply fill out the form below and don't forget to print your official participation certificate when you are done!


Deadline to sign up for the IKAROS mission is March 14th, 2010



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Jejakkan Telapak Kakimu di Planet Mars

NASA invites you to submit your name to be included on a microchip that will be sent to Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, scheduled to launch in 2011. Mars Science Laboratory is a rover that will assess whether Mars ever was, or still is, an environment able to support microbial life.

The "Send Your Name to Mars" Web page enables anyone to take part in the mission by sending his or her name to the Red Planet. Participants can print a certificate of participation and view a map showing where other contributors are from.




To submit names, visit http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/sendyourname/.

To learn more about the Mars Science Laboratory mission, visit http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.