The Planetary Society • May 04, 2020
Ten New Pictures from LightSail 2
This month, The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 mission spacecraft celebrates its 10th month in space. The spacecraft continues to successfully operate and use solar sailing for propulsion in low-Earth orbit.
The mission team regularly captures images of LightSail 2's solar sails to see how their condition changes over the course of the mission. Those images often capture stunning vistas of Earth in the process. In honor of our 10th month in space, here are 10 new pictures from orbit.
You can view our entire gallery of LightSail 2 images here. We also have a page where you can see every raw image downlinked from the spacecraft.
Sail Around Planet Earth with Bill Nye Sail around Planet Earth with Bill Nye and Dr. Bruce Betts with real space photos taken by the crowdfunded LightSail 2 spacecraft!
LightSail, a Planetary Society solar sail spacecraft
LightSail is a citizen-funded project from The Planetary Society to send a small spacecraft, propelled solely by sunlight, to Earth orbit.
![Western Africa from LightSail 2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x836_crop_center-center_82_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-08_141221_01NW_AfricaNigerR_Nlowerleft.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x535_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-08_141221_01NW_AfricaNigerR_Nlowerleft.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x401_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-08_141221_01NW_AfricaNigerR_Nlowerleft.jpg 576w)
![The Red Sea and Nile River from LightSail 2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x840_crop_center-center_82_line/20200405_LightSail2RedSeaNileNrightC2-77-2020-02-09_095131_03.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x537_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2RedSeaNileNrightC2-77-2020-02-09_095131_03.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x403_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2RedSeaNileNrightC2-77-2020-02-09_095131_03.jpg 576w)
![Chile from LightSail 2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x851_crop_center-center_82_line/20200411_LightSail2C1-81-2020-02-17_210002_11ChileBoliviaUyuniNright.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x545_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C1-81-2020-02-17_210002_11ChileBoliviaUyuniNright.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x408_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C1-81-2020-02-17_210002_11ChileBoliviaUyuniNright.jpg 576w)
![LightSail 2 sees Cuba and the island of Hispaniola](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x575_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2ECubaHispaniolaNrightC1-80-2020-01-30_190714_27.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x431_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2ECubaHispaniolaNrightC1-80-2020-01-30_190714_27.jpg 576w)
![Shadows from LightSail 2 solar panels on sail](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x900_crop_center-center_82_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-13_062017_06PanelShadows.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x576_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-13_062017_06PanelShadows.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x432_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-13_062017_06PanelShadows.jpg 576w)
![Central America from LightSail 2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x852_crop_center-center_82_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-13_174457_08NicaraguaC_AmericaNbottom.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x545_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-13_174457_08NicaraguaC_AmericaNbottom.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x409_crop_center-center_60_line/20200411_LightSail2C2-77-2020-02-13_174457_08NicaraguaC_AmericaNbottom.jpg 576w)
![India at Night from LightSail 2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x1800_crop_center-center_82_line/283562/20200414_c2_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x900_crop_center-center_82_line/283562/20200414_c2_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x576_crop_center-center_60_line/283562/20200414_c2_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x432_crop_center-center_60_line/283562/20200414_c2_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 576w)
![Full Moon over LightSail 2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x1800_crop_center-center_82_line/283567/20200414_c1_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x900_crop_center-center_82_line/283567/20200414_c1_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x576_crop_center-center_60_line/283567/20200414_c1_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x432_crop_center-center_60_line/283567/20200414_c1_2020-03-07_185444-01_datadrop_processed_stretched.jpg 576w)
![LightSail 2 High-Resolution Deployment Sequence, Camera 1](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x360_crop_center-center_82_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera1hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x180_crop_center-center_82_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera1hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x115_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera1hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x86_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera1hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 576w)
![LightSail 2 High-Resolution Deployment Sequence, Camera 2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x360_crop_center-center_82_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera2hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x180_crop_center-center_82_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera2hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x115_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera2hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x86_crop_center-center_60_line/20200405_LightSail2Camera2hiresdeploy5horiz.jpg 576w)
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