NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program developed the first generation of solar sail propulsion systems sufficient to accomplish inner solar system science and exploration missions. These first generation solar sails, when operational, will range in size from 40 meters to well over 100 meters in diameter and have an area density of less than 13 grams per square meter. A rigorous, multi-year technology development effort culminated in 2005 with the testing of two different 20-m solar sail systems under thermal vacuum conditions. This effort provided a number of significant insights into the optimal design and expected performance of solar sails as well as an understanding of the methods and costs of building and using them. In addition, solar sail orbital analysis tools for mission design were developed and tested. Laboratory simulations of the effects of long-term space radiation exposure were also conducted on two candidate solar sail materials. Detailed radiation and charging environments were defined for mission trajectories outside the protection of the earth's magnetosphere, in the solar wind environment. These were used in other analytical tools to prove the adequacy of sail design features for accommodating the harsh space environment. The presentation will describe the status of solar sail propulsion within NASA, near-term solar sail mission applications, and near-term plans for further development.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Solar Sail Propulsion Technology at NASA


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Colloquium at Surrey University ; 2007 ; Surrey, United Kingdom


    Publication date :

    2007-11-08


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English


    Keywords :


    NASA Solar Sail Propulsion Technology Development

    Johnson, Les / Montgomery, Edward E. / Young, Roy et al. | NTRS | 2007


    Overview of Solar Sail Propulsion within NASA

    A Artusio-Glimpse / A.G Swartzlander / L Johnson | NTIS | 2013


    Recent Advances in Solar Sail Propulsion at NASA

    Johnson, Les / Young, Roy M. / Montgomery, Edward E., IV | NTRS | 2006


    Recent Advances in Solar Sail Propulsion at NASA

    L. Johnson / R. M. Young / E. E. Montgomery | NTIS | 2006


    An Overview of Solar Sail Propulsion within NASA

    Johnson, Les / Swartzlander, Grover A. / Artusio-Glimpse, Alexandra | NTRS | 2013