Related papers: The solar sail and the mirror
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…
This article is devoted to research the application of the spacecraft with a solar sail to support the certain climatic conditions in an area of the Mars surface. Authors propose principles of functioning of the spacecraft, intended to…
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 first reports on the "Space Magnetic Sail" concept appeared more 30 years ago. During the period since some hundreds of research and scientific works have been published, including hundreds of research report by professors at major…
A quintessential source of heat, the Sun radiates toward the Earth a power ten thousand times greater than humanity's energy needs. Harnessing this energy bounty, however, requires capturing and converting sunlight. Today, this conversion…
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…
In this short review, I present some of the recent progresses on the pending questions of solar physics. These questions let us revisit the solar wind, the solar dynamo problem, the dynamics of the photosphere and finally have a glimpse at…
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…
In this paper it is presented the concept and design of a new type of spacecraft that could be used to make the first manned interstellar travel. Solar one would integrate three near-term technologies, namely: compact nuclear fusion…
Thermodynamics is accepted as a universal truth, encompassing all macroscopic objects. Therefore, it is surprising to find that, within our current understanding, the photovoltaic effect has so far eluded the first and second laws of…
The perfect fluid in the context of a covariant variable speed of light theory proposed by J. Magueijo is studied. On the one hand the modified first law of thermodynamics together with a recipe to obtain equations of state are obtained. On…
The Carnot theory is unique among the theories of heat developed before the emergence of thermodynamics because it considers the relationship between heat and work. The theory is contained in Carnot's book published in 1824, which includes…
[...] By the beginning of the 20th century, the principles of thermodynamics were summarized into the so-called four laws, which were, as it turns out, definitive negative answers to the doomed quests for perpetual motion machines. As a…
Solar sails with the capability of generating a tangential radiation pressure at the sun-pointing attitude, such as refractive sails can provide more efficient methods for attitude and orbital control of sailcraft. This paper presents the…
In this study we considered a solar sail coated with materials that undergo thermal desorption at a specific temperature, as a result of heating by solar radiation at a particular heliocentric distance. Three different scenarios, that only…
The Sun continuously expels a fraction of its own mass in the form of a steadily accelerating outflow of ionized gas called the "solar wind." The solar wind is the extension of the Sun's hot (million-degree Kelvin) outer atmosphere that is…
Experimental work with solar neutrinos has illuminated the properties of neutrinos and tested models of how the sun produces its energy. Three experiments continue to take data, and at least seven are in various stages of planning or…
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…
Solar sails enable missions to observe the solar environment from unique vantage points, such as sustained observations away from the Sun-Earth line; sub-L1 station keeping; high inclination solar orbits; Earth polar-sitting and…