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Planetary Radio • May 15, 2019

A Last Visit With LightSail 2 at the Cubesat Developers Workshop

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On This Episode

20190515 john bellardo

John Bellardo

Director of the Polysat Lab, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

20190515 cristina del castillo sancho

Cristina de Castillo Sancho

Programme and Engineering Coordinator for University Education, European Space Agency

Aaron Fielden

Undergraduate for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

20190515 amelia greig

Amelia Greig

Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Emily Mattle

Undergraduate for Morehead State University

20190515 jordan ticktin

Jordan Ticktin

Graduate Student for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Bruce betts portrait hq library

Bruce Betts

Chief Scientist / LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society

Kaplan mat headshot 0114a print

Mat Kaplan

Senior Communications Adviser and former Host of Planetary Radio for The Planetary Society

Mat Kaplan visits Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a last, clean room visit with LightSail 2, the Planetary Society’s solar sailing cubesat. While there, Mat also talked to attendees at the Cubesat Developers Workshop, including the creator of the tiny “Pocket Rocket” engine for small spacecraft. LightSail2 is now at the Air Force Research Lab for launch preparation, as we hear from Bruce Betts in this week’s What’s Up.

LightSail 2 in the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo clean room
LightSail 2 in the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo clean room Image: Mat Kaplan
Mat Kaplan, John Bellardo, Jordan Ticktin and Aaron Fielden
Mat Kaplan, John Bellardo, Jordan Ticktin and Aaron Fielden Mat Kaplan, John Bellardo, Jordan Ticktin and Aaron Fielden with LightSail 2 in the Cal Poly clean roomImage: Mat Kaplan
Amelia Greig’s Pocket Rocket installed in a single cubesat unit
Amelia Greig’s Pocket Rocket installed in a single cubesat unit Image: Mat Kaplan
Mat Kaplan and Amelia Greig
Mat Kaplan and Amelia Greig Mat Kaplan and Cal Poly professor and Pocket Rocket developer Amelia Greig.Image: Mat Kaplan
Pocket Rocket firing in a vacuum chamber
Pocket Rocket firing in a vacuum chamber Pocket Rocket firing in a vacuum chamber at the Cubesat Developers Workshop.Image: Mat Kaplan
Emily Mattle at the 2019 Cubesat Developers Workshop
Emily Mattle at the 2019 Cubesat Developers Workshop Student Emily Mattle of Morehead State University at the 2019 Cubesat Developers WorkshopImage: Mat Kaplan
Cristina de Castillo Sancho
Cristina de Castillo Sancho The European Space Agency’s Cristina de Castillo Sancho presents at the 2019 Cubesat Developers Workshop.Image: Mat Kaplan

This week's prizes:

A priceless Planetary Society KickAsteroid rubber asteroid and a 200-point iTelescope.net astronomy account.

iTelescope.net
iTelescope.net

This week's question:

About how wide an area was observed to have changed due to the Hayabusa 2 SCI impact on asteroid Ryugu?

To submit your answer:

Complete the contest entry form at http://planetary.org/radiocontest or write to us at [email protected] no later than Wednesday, May 22nd at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Last week's question:

What is the name of the approximately 930-meter asteroid that will fly by Earth at only .65 lunar distances in June of 2028?

Answer:

The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the May 1 space trivia contest:

What comet’s debris is responsible for the Eta Aquarid meteor shower?

Answer:

Comet Halley is responsible for the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower.