Proposals have been made to ?sail? spacecraft to the outer solar system using the pressure of sunlight, or even to propel interstellar spacecraft with high-powered,
Proposals have been made to ?sail? spacecraft to the outer solar system using the pressure of sunlight, or even to propel interstellar spacecraft with high-powered, Earth-based lasers. Sailing spacecraft would need no fuel?a great advantage because fuel constitutes much of the initial weight of any space mission. NASA?s Sunjammer, launched in 2015, is the first sailing spacecraft deployed beyond Earth orbit. Figure?29.15 shows what a similar solar sail might look like in space.
The intensity of sunlight at Earth?s orbit is about 1.4 kW/m2. A 100-kg sailing spacecraft with 1km2 sail area would experience an acceleration of abouta. 5 mm/ s2b. 5 cm/ s2?c. 5 m/ s2?d. 5 km/ s2
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Authors: Richard Wolfsonby
3rd Edition Volume 2
321976428, 978-0321976420
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