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Ian

Member

Registered: 2002-01-08

Posts: 236

Re: Solar Sail - Solar Sail

Could a solar sail be used to transport humans to mars and the moon?

flashgordon

Member

Registered: 2003-01-21

Posts: 314

Re: Solar Sail - Solar Sail

maybe laser powered; of  course, I'm no expert!

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: Solar Sail - Solar Sail

Well, sure, you just need a big enough sail, or you just need to be really patient!

Solar sails are definitely the ?cheapest? way to get around anywhere, because you don't need fuel. Which is why I'm interested in other types of propulsion technologies that exploit light power. Right now though we don't have the material sciences to build a really large one.

But we might be able to build a solar sail using plasmas and magnetic fields.

My favorite new technology in that regard is "Dusty-M2P2." And I think that if the technology is proven to scale and work, then it'd be hands down one of the fastest cheapest technologies in the inner solar system.

Here's a link to a slideshow talking about the potential of Dusty-M2P2: [http://bex.nsstc.uah.edu/RbS/HTML/APW01/img7.htm]http://bex.nsstc.uah.edu/RbS/HTML/APW01/img7.htm

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

JammerG55

Member

From: Shasta lake ca, 7 hrs north of

Registered: 2004-02-18

Posts: 46

Re: Solar Sail - Solar Sail

the great thing with solar sails is that they accererate constantily so that they accelerate at something like 5 mph per second.??? but thta acceleration is constant so thats 5 mph per second compounded dubbled every second.

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The sky is the limit...unless you live in a cave

Euler

Member

From: Corvallis, OR

Registered: 2003-02-06

Posts: 922

Re: Solar Sail - Solar Sail

Solar sails aren't that good for getting to the Moon.  They can’t take off from the Earth's surface or Moon's surface, and they cant land on the Earth or Moon.  Acceleration with a solar sail is possible in Earth or Lunar orbit, but it is more complicated and difficult than accelerating in a solar orbit.  Solar sails typically have an acceleration measured in millimeters per second, so it takes a long time to build delta-v.  They are much more effective for longer missions that leave the Earth's gravitational field.

MarsDog

Member

From: vancouver canada

Registered: 2004-03-24

Posts: 852

Re: Solar Sail - Solar Sail

Could a hybrid sail be effective ?
Make the sail with thin, light weight, solar cells and run a particle accelerator such as the xenon electric drive.

Euler

Member

From: Corvallis, OR

Registered: 2003-02-06

Posts: 922

Re: Solar Sail - Solar Sail

Solar panels are much heavier than a solar sail, so the sail force would be negligible compared to the power of the electric engine.