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Volunteer Spotlight

Click to enlarge > Volunteers at the Solar Sailing Symposium Bill Nye, Willie Robinson and Lou Friedman pose with Victoria Robinson at "Solar Sailing: Pathway to the Stars."

Victoria Robinson

My First Solar Sail Symposium

Victoria Robinson, the 11-year-old daughter of longtime Planetary Society volunteer Willie Robinson, recently attended the New York event, "Solar Sailing: Pathway to the Stars," with her father. There she met our current and incoming executive directors, Lou Friedman and Bill Nye, and was inspired to write her own essay about solar sailing and her father's volunteer work to promote the Planetary Society in his community.

Read about Victoria's experiences in her own words!

My First Solar Sail Symposium
July 26, 2010

At first I did not know what a solar sail symposium was, but I took the time to learn about a solar sail and a symposium. However, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Victoria Robinson and I’m eleven years old. I am proud to say I was assigned this story by Dr. Louis Friedmen, the executive director of The Planetary Society in person (what a delight). He is the co-founder of The Planetary Society along with the late Dr. Carl Sagan. My dad (Willie Robinson) introduced me to solar sailing. My father told my mother (Adriana Robinson) and me about Ikaros, Akatsuki mission, and Dr. Osamu Mori who help designed Ikaros and Akatsuki.

I learned that solar sails are also called light sails or photon sails. They are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds. They use light sources other than the Sun. Radiation pressure is small and decreases by the square of the distance from the sun, but unlike rockets, solar sails require no fuel.

Click to enlarge > Osamu Mori and Victoria Robinson Osamu Mori and Victoria Robinson at "Solar Sailing: Pathway to the Stars."

At the symposium I met Dr. Bill Nye the Science Guy, who called upon me to answer a question: “Would I want to go into Space?” I replied, “I want to go outer space because I like to take a journey or adventure out of this world.” I also met Dr. Osamu Mori and took a picture with him. I heard other distinguished gentlemen from different countries speak at the symposium. It was a pleasure to meet everyone and to spend time with my father.

My dad has been a member of The Planetary Society for many years and he has worked in the community to bring awareness to the people. He did several programs at different schools. At the programs he showed movies about Phoenix, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars (the red planet). I also helped my dad with the programs by setting up the equipment and answering student questions. I enjoyed spending time with my daddy because he taught me a lot about the planets, missions to other planets, the cosmos, and aerospace.

On July 6th, 2010 my dad and I went to New York City to see Miss Venus Williams at the Barnes and Nobles book store. When we arrived there, we waited in a long line, but the pace was fast and moving. It was like stop and go traffic. Finally, it was our turn to go upstairs, and there was another long line. Next it was our turn to get our book signed, called “Come to win.” She autographed the book, and my dad and I presented her with a portfolio. Inside the portfolio were four certificates about how the Williams sisters’ names were sent on the Akatsuki and Phoenix missions. Venus Williams was very excited to see them, and we took pictures of her looking through the portfolio. It was a very thrilling day to meet Miss Venus Williams, one of the world’s greatest tennis player.