NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) will be visible from the ground. Find out when you can see it on the NASA app on a mobile device.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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TechTranscript
00:00A NASA solar sail that you can spot from the ground, there's a new opportunity to observe
00:05a bright NASA spacecraft sailing across the night sky.
00:10NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, or ACS-3, is a small satellite that's testing
00:15new technologies in low-Earth orbit.
00:18It recently deployed its 30-foot-wide solar sails.
00:22These are a means of propulsion that could allow small spacecraft to sail on sunlight.
00:27The ACS-3 solar sails are highly reflective and make the spacecraft appear nearly as bright
00:33as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.
00:36You can find out when the solar sail spacecraft will pass over your location using the NASA
00:41app on your mobile device.
00:44Stay up to date on NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.
00:50I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's what's up for this
00:54month!
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