Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Sky high, Bill Nye the Science Guy and Planetary Society leader – sail away!
Credit: Planetary Society

UPDATE:

LightSail-A: Estimated Post-Sail Deployment Orbital Elements

http://www.satobs.org/LightSail-A.html

The Planetary Society’s LightSail-A deployed its solar sail on June 7, near 19:55 UTC.

Solar sail – out and about!
Credit: Mike Patton

According to ground satellite watcher, Ted Molczan in Canada, he estimates that with its sail deployed, LightSail-A’s standard visual magnitude will be about 4.4 (1000 km range, 90 deg phase angle), resulting in mag 2 to 3 on high-elevation, well illuminated passes.

Credit: The Planetary Society

“Its brightness may vary considerably from one pass to another. It could be much fainter than expected, or flare to negative magnitudes. I suspect it will begin tumbling during its first pass through perigee, which could cause it to appear to flash periodically,” Molczan reports.

Meanwhile, keep monitoring the situation at:

http://sail.planetary.org/missioncontrol