Setting Sail for the Stars
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June
28, 2000 -- Now that summer is here, many Americans are planning
to take their boats out on the water, to feel the wind in their
hair and sail off into the proverbial warm evening sunset. Some
NASA scientists, as they gaze into the setting Sun, have a different
kind of sailing in mind. They are pondering "solar sails"
and how new technological developments and research could take
spacecraft flying into deep space.
Some of these scientists gathered in Pasadena, CA, last month
to share ideas and present new information about solar sails
at the 11th annual Advanced Space Propulsion
Research Workshop at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Above: Nearly 400 years ago astronomer Johannes Kepler
observed comet tails blown by a solar breeze and suggested that
vessels might likewise navigate through space using appropriately
fashioned sails. It is now widely recognized that sunlight does
indeed produce a force which moves comet tails and a large, reflective
sail could be a practical means of propelling a spacecraft. [more information]
"We are now able to start opening doors for missions we
couldn't do with chemical propulsion," said Sarah Gavit,
program manager for JPL's Solar Sail Technology Program.
"Our goal is to perform a flight demonstration of a solar sail," said Gavit. "We're hoping we could do a flight demo in the 2005 timeframe to prepare for the Interstellar Probe, a sail-propelled craft that's slated for launch about 5 years later."
The goal of the Interstellar Probe is to travel beyond the nine known planets.
"This will be humankinds first planned venture outside our solar system," said Les Johnson, manager of Interstellar Propulsion Research at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "This is a stretch goal that is among the most audacious things we've ever undertaken."
Above: Several NASA spacecraft are searching for the
boundary between interstellar space and the heliosphere (a giant
bubble blown by the solar wind). The solar-sail propelled Interstellar
Probe could overtake all of them if it is launched in 2010. [more
information]
Nearly half a kilometer wide, the Interstellar Probe's delicate
solar sail would be unfurled in space. Continuous pressure from
sunlight would ultimately accelerate the craft to speeds about
five times higher than possible with conventional rockets --
without requiring any fuel! Zooming toward the stars at 90 km
per second, it could cover the distance from New York to Los
Angeles in less than a minute. Thats more than 10 times
faster than the Space Shuttles on-orbit speed of 8 km per
second. An interstellar probe launched in 2010 would pass the
Voyager
1 spacecraft, the most distant spacecraft bound for interstellar
space, in 2018 going as far in eight years as Voyager will have
journeyed in 41 years.
Johnson says transportation is quite possibly the toughest challenge
with interstellar missions because they have to go so far, so
fast. "The difficulty is that rockets need so much fuel
that they can't push their own weight into interstellar space.
The best option appears to be space sails, which require no fuel,"
he said.
A
sail that holds particular promise, according to Gavit, is one
made of carbon fibers. Timothy R. Knowles, of Energy Science
Laboratories, Inc. presented a paper at the conference that discussed
these new carbon sails. The fibers are woven together, creating
a criss-cross patterned material that is very low-density. The
use of carbon makes the sail able to withstand the intense heat
from the sun.
"The carbon fiber sail can get closer to the sun allowing
it to get more bang for the buck," said Gavit. "Of
course, some missions don't require flying so close to the sun,
so we are looking at other options, too."
Above: Les Johnson, manager of Interstellar Propulsion
Research at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,
AL, holds a rigid, lightweight, carbon fiber material that could
be used to build a giant space sail.
Other presentations at the conference focused on using lasers
or microwave transmitters that would power the solar sails along
at a faster rate than sunlight alone. The sails would be powered
like those designed to use solar photons, with the lasers or
microwave transmitters beaming at the sail for a few days or
weeks, providing the sail with the light needed to create thrust.
The Solar Wind, Not!
A common misconception is that solar sails are pushed by the solar wind just as sailboats are propelled by the wind on Earth. This is not so. The solar wind is an extremely tenuous flow of particles streaming away from the Sun. It exerts very little force on anything it hits. The propulsive force for a solar sail arises from the pressure of photons (light) from the Sun or from lasers. Sunlight at 1 Astronomical Unit (1 AU is Earth's distance from the sun = 150 million km or 93 million miles) exerts a force of 9 Newtons per square kilometer (0.78 pounds per square mile) on a solar sail. For more information about the basics of solar sails, see "Intro to Solar Sailing," a web page hosted by the California Institute of Technology. |
Scientists will continue to investigate the possibilities for the use of solar sails on future NASA missions, with the hope that these sails can get probes farther into space than ever before.
"These sails have really only become a reality in the last five years, due to advances in lightweight materials," said Gavit. "There are several near-end and mid-term NASA missions that plan to use sails."
The Marshall Space Flight Center partners with NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in developing solar sail missions and technology. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has overall responsibility for NASAs interstellar missions while the Marshall Center is responsible for developing transportation systems for the missions. Marshalls effort is part of its Advanced Space Transportation Program, NASAs core technology program for all space transportation.
Web LinksHighway2Space.com
-- news and information about space transportation research from
the Marshall Space Flight Center
Recent Stories
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May 31, 2000: Advanced Space Propulsion Conference - Scientists meet to discuss the latest in space transportation.
May 29, 2000: What's the Matter with
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May
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NASA
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April 11, 2000: Where's the Edge?- NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program looks
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Stories from the
1999 Space Propulsion Workshop:
April 6, 1999:
Ion
Propulsion -- 50 Years in the Making- The
concept of ion propulsion, currently being demonstrated on the
Deep Space 1 mission, goes back to the very beginning of NASA
and beyond.
April
6, 1999: Far Out Space
Propulsion Conference Blasts Off
- Atoms locked in snow, a
teaspoon from the heart of the sun, and the stuff that drives
a starship will be on the agenda of an advanced space propulsion
conference that opens today in Huntsville.
April 7, 1999: Darwinian
Design - Survival of the Fittest Spacecraft
April 7, 1999: Coach-class
tickets for space? - Scientists discuss new ideas for high-performance,
low-cost space transportation
April 12, 1999: Reaching
for the stars - Scientists examine using antimatter and fusion
to propel future spacecraft.
April 16, 1999: Riding
the Highways of Light - Science mimics science fiction as
a Rensselaer Professor builds and tests a working model flying
disc. The disc, or "Lightcraft," is an early prototype
for Earth-friendly spacecraft of the future.