Related papers: Gradient-index Solar Sail and its Optimal Orbital …
Solar sails propelled by radiation pressure enable space missions that cannot be achieved using chemical rockets alone. Significant in-space propulsion for missions such as a solar polar orbiter may be achieved with a sail that deviates…
Recent successes in the deployment of sails in space have reduced the risk associated with solar sailing missions. The attitude control requirements for a solar sailing mission is low with only slow attitude maneuvers needed to maintain a…
A solar sail is one of the most promising space exploration system because of its theoretically infinite specific impulse using solar radiation pressure (SRP). Recently, some researchers proposed "transformable spacecrafts" that can…
Solar sails offer a promising solution for fuel free propulsion, enabling novel mission profiles and deeper space exploration. While reaction wheels are standard for spacecraft attitude control, the large moment of inertia of solar sails…
We use micromagnetic modelling to demonstrate the operation of graded index lenses designed to steer forward-volume magnetostatic spin waves by 90 and 180 degrees. The graded index profiles require the refractive index to diverge in the…
We consider a special relativistic effect, known as the Poynting-Robertson effect, on various types of trajectories of solar sails. Since this effect occurs at order $v^{\phi}/c$, where $v^{\phi}$ is the tangential speed relative to the…
Radiation pressure afforded by natural broadband sunlight upon a transmissive diffractive sail is theoretically and numerically investigated. A grating period of one micrometer is found to convert 83% of the solar black body spectrum into…
The transverse radiation pressure force and acceleration is compared for two parametrically optimized designs: prismatic and two-pillar metasurface gratings. The numerical results were cross-verified with both Maxwell stress tensor and…
The Solar sail is a large thin film used to collect solar light pressure for moving of space apparatus. Unfortunately, the solar radiation pressure is very small about 9 mkN/sq.m at Earth's orbit. However, the light force significantly…
The electric solar wind sail produces thrust by centrifugally spanned high voltage tethers interacting with the solar wind protons. The sail attitude can be controlled and attitude maneuvers are possible by tether voltage modulation…
There is a desire to observe the sun's poles to further deepen our understanding of solar activity. However, because of the large speeds needed to perform out-of-ecliptic plane maneuvers, chemical and electric rocket propulsion mechanisms…
Advanced diffractive films may afford advantages over passive reflective surfaces for a variety space missions that use solar or laser in-space propulsion. Three cases are compared: Sun-facing diffractive sails, Littrow diffraction…
In the framework of a strict mathematical approach based on classical theory of elasticity we present an idea of the deployment and stretching of the circular solar sail attached to the inflatable toroidal shell. It is predicted that by…
A highly reflective sail provides a way to propel a spacecraft out of the solar system using solar radiation pressure. The closer the spacecraft is to the Sun when it starts its outward journey, the larger the radiation pressure and so the…
Harnessing solar radiation pressure is key to transforming space exploration with multiple low cost sunlight propelled spacecraft to outer reaches of space. By controlling the direction of sunlight momentum transfer new missions and better…
In this work, the orbital evolution of these objects that are located in the geostationary orbit (GEO) is analyzed. Knowing this, the possibility of using a solar sail is considered to help to clean the space environment. The main natural…
The Sun's global inertial modes are very sensitive to the solar differential rotation and to properties of the deep solar convection zone which are currently poorly constrained. These properties include the superadiabatic temperature…
We show that by having the auxtethers made partly or completely of conducting material and by controlling their voltages, it is possible to control the spin rate of the electric solar wind sail by using the electric sail effect itself. The…
The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a novel, efficient propellantless propulsion concept which utilises the natural solar wind for spacecraft propulsion with the help of long centrifugally stretched charged tethers. The E-sail requires…
The Magnetic Sail is a space propulsion system that utilizes the interaction between solar wind particles and an artificial dipole magnetic field generated by a spacecraft's coil to produce thrust without the need for additional plasma or…