Abstract We discuss a possibility to survey many Kuiper Belt Objects (KBO) with a single launch using a few small-scale spacecraft, each equipped with solar sails, which could be deployed from a single interplanetary bus at the perihelion of that craft's solar orbit. Each small-scale spacecraft would carry a scientific payload and would be directed to intersect one or more KBOs. The proposed scenario is the following: the sails are carried as a payload to a relatively small heliocentric distance (0.1–0.3 AU); once at the perihelion, the sails are deployed. Besides photonic propulsion due to the solar radiation, another mechanism could be convenient: thermal desorption, a physical process of mass loss which can provide additional thrust as heating liberates atoms embedded on the surface of a solar sail. Therefore, a solar sail with a mass of desorptive coating of the same order as the payload would experience additional propulsive force that would dramatically increase the distance that the sail can travel in a year.
Highlights Exploration of the Kuiper Belt with a launch of a few solar sails is suggested. Propulsion due to the solar radiation and thermal desorption is considered. The mass of the coating is the same order as the payload. The acceleration due to the thermal desorption increases the cruise velocity. The distance that sails travel per year varies from about 22 to 40 AU.
Exploring the Kuiper Belt with sun-diving solar sails
Acta Astronautica ; 160 ; 601-605
2019-02-15
5 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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