Photon First Light

The satellite named first light is the first spacecraft from rocket lab s family of configurable photon satellites to be deployed to orbit.

Photon first light.

The photon is a type of elementary particle it is the quantum of the electromagnetic field including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force photons are massless and they always move at the speed of light in vacuum 299 792 458 m s. This spacecraft called first light is just a demo but nasa has already. Special edition mission patch for photon pathfinder mission first light embroidered onto a heat pressed application backing. Rocket lab just launched its first photon satellite.

Planck s constant the relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency can be described by the following equation. Photon also called light quantum minute energy packet of electromagnetic radiation the concept originated 1905 in albert einstein s explanation of the photoelectric effect in which he proposed the existence of discrete energy packets during the transmission of light earlier 1900 the german physicist max planck had prepared the way for the concept by explaining that heat radiation is. Launched as a technology demonstration first light builds upon the existing capabilities of the electron launch vehicle s kick stage with additional subsystems to enable long duration. The photoelectric effect is a property of light that is not explained by the theory that light is a wave.

This is the first photon satellite to fly named first light the technology demonstration tested the spacecraft systems needed to enable new missions to earth orbit the moon and venus. This is one of the main reasons that scientists chose to treat light as both a wave and a stream of particles. The satellite named first light is the first spacecraft from rocket lab s family of configurable photon satellites to be deployed to orbit. Rocket lab launches first photon satellite by jeff foust september 3 2020 an image taken from first light the first rocket lab photon satellite placed in orbit during an electron launch aug.

Like all elementary particles photons are currently best explained by quantum mechanics and.