NASA: magnetic solar sail.....

[Dr Mordrid]

This one is just too weird:

Using a simple solenoid, 3 kw worth of solar cells and 6.6 kg of liquid helium the idea is to generate a plasma/magnetic bubble ~36 miles in diameter around a 100kg spacecraft. This small amount of helium fuel would power the the "engine" for over 3 months.

The solar wind then becomes the motive force, pushing against the plasma/magnetic bubble much as it does against the Earths magnetic field. This would provide constant "thrust", accelerating the spacecraft to over 6.9 million km/day or 180,000 mph

Calling this approach "creative" would be an understatement.

http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/prop19aug99_1.htm

Dr. Mordrid

[James_D]

There is also a private foundation trying almost the same thing, but using a regular solar sail instead. Their probe is planned to launch within 4 months, from a converted russian ICBM from a Nuclear sub in the Barents sea.

http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/index2.html

James.

[K6-III]

A magnetic sail and a traditional solar sail are quite different....

[James_D]

DUh... I know, but so far no one has even tried a traditional sail yet.

James.

[RedRed]

I find this sort of stuff really intresting, especially when it is almost a reality...
RedRed

[Dr Mordrid]

Originally posted by James_D
DUh... I know, but so far no one has even tried a traditional sail yet.

James.

Uhhhh....wrong. NASA has flown at least 2 solar sails launched from shuttle missions. It worked and more tests are on their launch schedule for ~2005.

Dr. Mordrid

[Technoid]

Is this apliable to bigger wessels as well?

[Dr Mordrid]

Both the magnetic bubble sail and the physical sail are very applicable to large spacecraft. NASA has designs on the books for physical sails some kilometers in diameter for large interstellar missions, though smaller ones would work for lighter craft.

Theoretically they should get up to about 10% of the speed of light just using the solar wind. They can go even faster if the spacecraft includes a microwave transmitter, ion beam or large laser to provide it's own more intense "wind" when it gets further from the sun.

Nuclear power for active power of this type would be a must, but the same is true of the very powerful VASIMR drive as well. VASIMR = Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket

VASIMR will be able to take the manned mission one-way travel time to Mars down from 9-12 months to just 3 months. They can do this because they do continuous burns for months at a time, not just a big burn and cruise like with chemical rockets.

http://www.ae.utexas.edu/design/phoenix/vasimr.html

Concept video for Mars mission:

http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/teams/1/vasimr.asx

They're talking about powering large VASIMR's with a nuclear reactor similar to those used on submarines.

Dr. Mordrid

[K6-III]

VASIMR is a technology that can be uses to move incoming asteroids as well....

[James_D]

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid
Uhhhh....wrong. NASA has flown at least 2 solar sails launched from shuttle missions. It worked and more tests are on their launch schedule for ~2005.

Dr. Mordrid

Are you sure you are not talking about the russian Znaunya/ZNAMIA , they were solar mirrors, not sails. And shame on you for taking credits for something the russians did.

If you have any info on the any Nasa shuttle launch please post links. This is very interesting material.



James.

[Dr Mordrid]

Mariner 10 used solar sailing techniques for maneuvering and extending its mission, mainly by using its solar panels as the "sail".

Previous Mariner missions used a small solar sail to counterbalance the pressure on their power cells and maintain attitude control.

Dr. Mordrid

[James_D]

So nothing from the shuttle. And talking about Mariners, yes the
Mariner 10 was the first to use the solar sailing techniques.

James

[Novdid]

This is interesting, please continue!!!

[Dr Mordrid]

Originally posted by James_D
So nothing from the shuttle. And talking about Mariners, yes the
Mariner 10 was the first to use the solar sailing techniques.

James

I'm sure there were attempts from the shuttle, I just can't find the references right now. It was a small parachute shaped affair to test the use of a mylar material for the purpose and deployment.

Dr. Mordrid

[rylan]

Thing that really is cool about this is its another peek at Star Trek stuff that can really work.