Satellite   Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation   Space Exploration & Science Missions   Commercial Space  
Universe Today • Andy Tomaswick

Kirigami-enabled solar sails let sailcraft turn without propellant

A University of Pennsylvania preprint by Gulzhan Aldan and Igor Bargatin describes using kirigami — patterned structural cuts — to generate steering torques for solar sails, enabling turn maneuvers without propellant. The technique addresses a long-standing control limitation for propellant-free sailcraft.

2025-12-27T03:54:23.461136-08:00
Satellite   Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation   Space Exploration & Science Missions   Commercial Space  
Universe Today • Andy Tomaswick

Lawrence Livermore Releases Open-Source Dataset Mapping 1 Million Cis‑Lunar Orbits

By Universe Today: Even most rocket scientists would rather avoid hard math when they don’t have to do it. So when it comes to figuring out orbits in complex three-body systems, like those in Cis-lunar space, which is between the Earth and the Moon, they’d rather someone else do the work for them.

2025-12-26T07:01:58.180073-08:00