Solar Sails - Solar Sailing
Solar Sailing is an inexpensive method of
propelling spacecraft because no fuel or engines would be required.
Solar Sails would propel a
spacecraft by utilizing the pressure created by the stream of photons
(tiny units of light energy) from the sun. Once a spacecraft is
in orbit, a lightweight sail would unfurl. Changing the position
of the sail would increase or decrease speed. The thrust
created by the photon stream is very low and interplanetary
journeys would take years.
In May 2005 a Volna rocket launched from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea may launch the privately built Cosmos-1 spacecraft. The Cosmos-1 spacecraft is designed to use solar sails to move through space.
Reference:
Picture from http://src.space.ru/page_30e.htm (Space Regatta Consortium)
Book:
- Starsailing:
Solar Sails and Interstellar Travel
by Louis Friedman from Amazon.com
-
Solar Sailing: Technology, Dynamics and Mission Applications
by Colin Robert McInnes
from Amazon.com
For other books use the space
book search engine/links page.
Solar
Thrust Sailor: Solar sail with thruster ring.
Space
Regatta Consortium-Znamaya:
Living with a Star: Proposed
program from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Solar Sail - All about Solar Sails
Interstellar Probe:
DLR Solar Sail Homepage:
The Microlight Solar
Sail:
Caltech's Solar
Sails:
Geostorms:
Solar Blade:
Interworld Transport:
Commercial Solar Sails
Oliver Boisard's Solar Sails:
Solar
Polar Sail Mission:
Goto
Propulsion Guide Home Page
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Space Projects and Info Home Page
Copyright © 2000-2008 Vic Stathopoulos. All rights reserved.
Updated: Saturday 19th, July, 2008
