MISSION PROFILE
Humanity's First Starship is a revolutionary interstellar spacecraft that will use a solar sail designed and manufactured by L'Garde to harness the physical pressure of sunlight, much like sailboats harness the wind at sea. The spacecraft will carry the photos, messages, poems, thoughts, hopes and dreams of millions of people to the stars.

FLIGHT SUMMARY
Using a large reflective surface, the force of sunlight will push against the sail propelling it forward. The Team Encounter sail is approximately 4, 900 m² (52,900 ft²) – about the size of an American football field. Humanity's First Starship will be launched in a carrier aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. The carrier, containing both the starship's payload and folded solar sail, will orbit Earth for up to 90 days. After ground control ensures that all systems are functioning properly, the carrier's rocket motor will move the carrier out of Earth orbit at which time the booms and sail will deploy. In fact, depending on the launch window, during the first few days of its flight the sail may appear in the night sky to be about as bright as the planet Venus. Fins on the solar sail will orient the spacecraft relative to the Sun so as to maximize spacecraft thrust.

FACTS ABOUT THE SOLAR SAIL
The solar sail will be supported by booms, just as a sailboat uses booms to support its sails

• Sail made of 0.9 micron Mylar®
• Sail surface area: 70 m x 70 m (230 ft x 230 ft) 0.2 acres
• Booms are made with a resin impregnated Kevlar webbing. Heated and inflated with nitrogen gas, each boom extends, cools and the webbing rigidifies. The nitrogen gas is vented, creating a load carrying boom.
• Boom length: 54 m (177 ft)

PAYLOAD
Humanity's First Starship can accommodate a payload with a maximum mass of three kilograms. The payload will include:

• High density discs with millions of messages, artwork, and photographs
• Micro-hair samples

MISSION SCHEDULE

Day 1

• Ariane 5 rocket launched from French Guiana.

Days 1 – 90 (approximately)

• The carrier, including the solar sail folded into the size of a small suitcase, orbits Earth.
• Ground controllers conduct system checks.
• Ground controllers check that planetary bodies do not interfere with the spacecraft’s trajectory.

Day 90 (approximately)

• Ground controllers send a command to the carrier to fire a rocket motor, pushing the carrier out of Earth orbit.
• The booms and sail deploy.
• The solar sail (with payload) separates from the carrier.
• Cameras on board the carrier take pictures of the solar sail as it moves away, and send the pictures back to Earth for display on Team Encounter’s on-line Mission Control.
• The carrier enters a heliocentric (Sun-centered) orbit.

13.5 years

• The sail passes the orbit of Pluto at approximately 45,000 km/hr (28,125 miles per hour).
• The sail continues to travel through space.