The dynamics of solar sails with a variable surface reflectivity distribution are investigated. When changing the reflectivity across the sail film, solar radiation pressure forces and torques can be controlled without changing the attitude of the spacecraft relative to the Sun or using attitude control actuators. The reflectivity can in principle be modified using electro-chromic coatings, which are applied here as examples to counteract gravity-gradient torques in Earth orbit and to enable specific shape profiles of a flexible sail film. This ‘optical reconfiguration’ method introduces an adaptive solar sail as a multi-functional platform for novel mission applications.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Distributed Reflectivity Solar Sails for Extended Mission Applications


    Additional title:

    Springer Praxis Books (formerly: Springer-Praxis Series)




    Publication date :

    2014-02-04


    Size :

    20 pages




    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Optical Control of Solar Sails using Distributed Reflectivity

    Borggrafe, A. / Heiligers, J. / Ceriotti, M. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2014


    Near-Term Mission Applications for Low Performance Solar Sails

    McInnes, C. R. / Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001



    Dynamics and control of flexible spinning solar sails under reflectivity modulation

    Mu, Junshan / Gong, Shengping / Ma, Pengbin et al. | Elsevier | 2015


    From Solar Sails to Laser Sails

    Johnson, Les / Montgomery, Edward E. | NTRS | 2017