SOLAR SAIL

Presented by- Mukul Khetani

 Contents :-
 Introduction
 History
 Sails: Using Sunlight
 Sail Types
 Core of the solar sail
 Tests before lunching
 Solar Sail Design Challenges
 Applications
 Advantages
 Disadvantages
 Future Solar Sailing
 Conclusion
 Reference
Introduction:-
 Solar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by
sunlight on large mirrors. A useful analogy may be a sailing boat ; the light exerting a
force on the mirrors is akin to a sail being blown by the wind.
 Other names are:-
Light sails
Photon sails
 The most common material in current design is aluminized 2 μm Kapton film. It
resists the heat of a pass close to the Sun and still remains reasonably strong. The
aluminium reflecting film is on the Sun side.
 Solar sails use the sun's energy as a method of propulsion—flight by light. Light is
made of packets of energy called photons.
 Solar sail spacecraft capture light momentum with large, lightweight mirrored
surfaces—sails. As light reflects off a sail, most of its momentum is transferred,
pushing on the sail.
History :-
 In 1873, James Clerk Maxwell first demonstrated that sunlight exerts a small
amount of pressure as photons bounce off a reflective surface. This kind of
pressure is the basis of all modern solar sail designs.
 In 1993, the Russian Space Agency conducted a successful solar sail
experiment, called Znamya, which was deployed from an unmanned Progress
vehicle after it departed from their Mir Space Station. A 20-meter circular sail-
like reflector was successfully deployed; a follow-up experiment in 1999
collided with a deployed spacecraft antenna and was destroyed.
Comoss-1
 World's First Solar Sail Launch planned in June 21st 2005
 privately funded and least launch cost
 Russia Russian modified ICBM(intercontinental ballistic missile) Volna rocket
launch from a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea Boost to altitude of 825
km
 In may 2010, Japanese space agency (JAXA) successfully launched
IKAROS .
 IKAROS (Inter - planetary Kite – craft Accelerated by Radiation of Sun)
 has a polyimide sheet of 200 m2
 is diagonal spinning square sail 20m.
 NanoSail-D was a small satellite which was to have been used by
NASA's Ames Research Center to study the deployment of a solar sail in
space on 3 August 2008 but it was unable to achieve the orbit because
the rocket was not achieving the thrust and it fell down.
 NanoSail-D2 was built as a ground spare for NanoSail- D. Following the
launch failure of NanoSail-D in August 2008, NanoSail-D2 was launched
as NanoSail-D on a Minotaur IV rocket in November 2010, and deployed
from the FASTSAT satellite
Sails : Using Sunlight:-
 Sail pointed at Sun, experiences force, Sun pushes the sail directly
away.
 Reflected light generates reaction force (much like reaction force of
rocket)
Solar Sail Types:-
 Square Sail
 Heliogyro Solar Sail
 Spinning Disc Sail
Square Sail:-
 Large, flat reflective film
 4 spars from hub
 Optimum Design
 Packing/deployment issues
 No spin to maintain tension
Heliogyro Solar Sail:-
 Heliogyro sails are composed of several vanes, extending directly
from a central hub, that “roll out” because of the spinning motion
of the craft.
 12 vanes (7 km long)
 Extend from central hub
 Canada Solar Sail Project Steer by shifting ballast mass (center
mass misaligned from center of solar pressure ) create torque to
turn.
Spinning Disc Sail:-
 Circular sails
 Large, spinning disks Support by light weight tension lines carry loads
except at the center
 Structure to carry payload, control system, sail developing spacecraft like
these
 --illuminate cities in Arctic circle
 --future solar sails
Core of the solar sail:-
 A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that
is made up of multiples of 10×10×10 cm cubic units. CubeSats
have a mass of no more than 1.33 kilograms per unit, and often
use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their
electronics and structure.
 The cube structure is an enclosed aluminum box with solar cells
clamped on the outside walls. Antennas are deployed
perpendicular to the faces at the corners. Internals include
sensors, a camera and printed circuit boards.
CubeSat :-
Major CubeSat Components:-
 Payload
 C&DH (Command and Data Handling),
 COMM (Communications)
 EPS (Electrical Power System)
 ADC (Attitude Determination and Control),
 Structures and Mechanisms
 Batteries
 Solar Panels & Arrays
 GSE(ground support equipment)
 Software
Tests before launching:-
• Ground deployment tests
• Suborbital tests
• Attitude (orientation) control
Solar Sail Design Challenges:-
 The single most important characteristic of solar sails is their large
size—often measured in kilometers—necessary to achieve
acceptable accelerations and transfer times.
 Packaging
 Deployment
 Stiffening
Applications:-
 Exploration of the solar system and beyond
 Delivery of science instruments/observatories
 Maintenance of special 'artificial' orbits
 Delivery of large cargos and people
 Store solar energy/reflectors for commercials
 Planetary Protection
Advantages:-
 It requires no fuel
 Use of low resource spacecraft
 Longer life in space
 Less in mass
 Sail acting as a solar cell, which creates an electrical current (just
the way normal solar panels work). This electricity can be used for
many purposes: IKAROS uses it simply to power payload (sensors,
communication, etc.).
Disadvantages:-
 Sail craft must operate in orbits where their turn rates are
compatible with the orbits, which is generally a concern only for
spinning disk configurations.
 Sail operating temperatures are a function of solar distance, sail
angle, reflectivity, and front and back emissivity . A sail can be used
only where its temperature is kept within its material limits.
 They lose thrust the further it is from the Sun.
 They are large, delicate, and cannot be used on any craft intended
to land on another body unless jettisoned or retracted.
Future Solar Sailing:-
 Helio storm 2016-2020
 Sail size: 150x150 m
 Heliostorm--solar storms warnings Earth based communication systems
Sail maintain closer to Sun – more warning
 SPI (Solar Polar Imager) 2020-2035
 Sail size: 150x150 m
 SPI space craft to orbit above Sun Pole Maintaining position easy for a
solar sail
 impossible conventional Interstellar Probe 2031
 Sail Size: 250x250 m IP Fly close to Sun then >200AU
 Solar system interacts with other solar systems or not
Conclusion:-
 The program’s objective is to develop in-space propulsion
technologies that can benefit near and midterm NASA space
science missions by significantly reducing cost, mass and travel
times. Solar Sail technology is crucial for the next generation of
space travel.
Reference:-
 Leipold, M., Garner,C., Freeland, R., Hermann, A., Noca, M., Pagel, G., Seboldt, W., Sprague, G., and Unckenbold, W.,ODISSEE — A proposal for
demonstration of a solar sail in earth orbit, Acta Astronautica Volume 45, Issues 4–9, August– November 1999, Pages 557–566

 Tsuda, Y., Mori, O., Funase, R., Sawada, H., Yamamoto, H., Saiki, T, Endo, T., and Kawaguchi, J., Flight status of IKAROS deep space solar sail
demonstrator, Acta Astronautica, Volume 69, Issues 9–10, November–December 2011, Pages 833– 840

 Johnson, L., Whorton, M., Heaton, A., Pinson, R., and Laue, G., NanoSail-D: A solar sail demonstration mission, Acta Astronautica, Volume 68,
Issues 5–6, March–April 2011, Pages 571–575

 Scheel HW (1974), "Space-Saving Storage of Flexible Sheets", United States Patent 3848821.

 Tibert G and Gärdsback M (2006), "Space Webs" (ACT-RPT-MAD-ARI-05-4109)

 Widani C (2007), "Solar Sail Deployment Technology and Mechanism", In 1st International Symposium on Solar Sailing.

 http://www.inspacepropulsion.com

 http://www.nasa.gov