More News
- Page Two
- News Links
Anarchives
Radio/TV
- Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock
Letters To Editor
- List of Letters
- Write a Letter
Join Us
Marketplace
- Buy Stuff - Sell Stuff
- Store on CafePress.com
Special Editions
RSS Feeds
About Us
Log-In

Make a Comment • Email Link • Send Letter to Editor

IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration

Path to Fast Solar Sails

09-03-2024 • arclein

We need to make bigger solar sails from materials that can take high temperatures. Taking high temperatures means the solar sails could fly closer to the sun. If we got four times closer to the sun than Mercury (9 million miles or so )then we could go 20AU per year which is about 3 times faster than any spacecraft we have made. If we could go to about 2 million miles from then we could go to 50-60AU per year speeds. NASA is testing solar sail with boom structures that could make solar sails about 20 times bigger. This means demonstration of the technologies needed to fabricate, fly, navigate and control 100 ?" 200 kg class missions using sails in the 1,500 to 7,000-m2 class. These are being developed and ground tested. A proposed Solar Cruiser mission was canceled in 2022.

Read Full Story

Reported By robert klein

Make a Comment • Email Link • Send Letter to Editor