Weekly Space Hangout - Sailing Away Using Diffractive Solar Sails, with Amber Dubill

https://youtu.be/4wglbxajKpA Host: Fraser Cain ( @fcain )Special Guest: Tonight we are very excited to welcome Amber Dubill from JHUAPL, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, to the WSH. Amber has worked on both IMAP and DART, and also has a keen interest in advanced solar sail design concepts.   Solar sails have long been theorized as being a viable means of spacecraft propulsion — eventually — and we do seem to be moving closer to their being a reality… In June 2019, the Planetary Society successfully launched their crowdfunded, proof-of-concept LightSail 2, and it is still going strong! In fact, you can check on its current status here: https://secure.planetary.org/site/SPa...    Meanwhile, in Rochester NY, Dr. Grover Swartzlander from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) was developing a new approach to solar sail design - one that could potentially allow spacecraft to photograph the poles of the sun for the first time! In April 2019 RIT and Dr. Swartzlander were awarded a 2019 NIAC Phase 2 award to explore the feasibility of diffractive solar sails! (https://www.rit.edu/news/nasa-announc...)   As a mechanical engineering student at RIT, Amber worked closely with Dr. Swartzlander on the diffractive solar sail design, and their collaboration continues today.    Amber started her experience on low cost, high risk CubeSats space at RIT as a student and at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). This evolved into research on advanced technology concepts for spacecraft. She has developed expertise in the use of solar sailing, and has become a champion for diffractive solar sailing through collaboration on NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts.   She continues working to further develop diffractive solar sailing technology: a new type of massless, infinite propulsion, that will enable spacecraft to sail around our Sun and view it like never before.   To stay up to date with Amber's research, follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-dubill) as well as on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amber.dubill).   You can learn more about Amber's and Dr. Swartzlander's collaboration in this podcast: https://soundcloud.com/rittigers/inte... Regular Guests: Dr. Moiya McTier ( https://www.moiyamctier.com/ & @GoAstroMo ) C.C. Petersen ( http://thespacewriter.com/wp/ & @AstroUniverse & @SpaceWriter ) Marie-Liis Aru ( https://www.bymarieliis.com/ & https://www.instagram.com/p/BL-0VW4Ah2j/?hl=en  ) This week's stories: - KREEP on the Moon. - Neptune is cooling down. - Magellanic clouds smashing together! - Axiom Space AX-1 arrives at the ISS. Good? Bad?   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].