Spacecraft with a solar sail have some advantages over other spacecraft. They do not need fuel for movement, because the solar wind acts as this. A spacecraft with a solar sail can carry out missions more cheaply and can operate longer. The solar sail concept has already proven its effectiveness, but for it to be truly effective, the technology must evolve. That’s why NASA will launch an advanced solar sail spacecraft called the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System into space on April 24. The sail-supporting boom, made from lightweight polymer composites, is lighter and more flexible, making the structure more efficient, New Atlas writes.
Sails are still used on some ships on Earth. To move, such ships use the power of the wind. Spacecraft with a solar sail use the solar wind for propulsion. These are streams of plasma, consisting mainly of electrons and protons, that the Sun constantly releases at different speeds. Thanks to the flow of solar particles, a solar sail can accelerate indefinitely. But it is more difficult to make a large solar sail that might receive a lot of energy for propulsion. And the problem is not in the sail itself, but in the arrows, that is, the structures that hold the sail.
According to scientists, modern arrows are very heavy and metal, or made of lightweight composite with a bulky design. These options are not suitable for stable long-term operation of small spacecraft.
A solar sail requires the use of very large but light and stable booms that are easy to fold and then just as easy to deploy in space. The new Advanced Composite Solar Sail System has a different design and improved support boom structure. When placed in a rocket, they fold well and unfold easily.
The new solar sail will be connected to a small spacecraft (12U) CubeSat built by NanoAvionics. It will be launched into space aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle from New Zealand.
The spacecraft should enter a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 1000 km above the Earth, and the sail will unfold in such a way that its area will be 80 sq.m. The coiled arrows will unfold and reach a length of 7 meters. After deployment, the solar sail will adjust the orbit of the device and change the angle of inclination depending on the movement of the solar wind.
If this demonstration mission is successful, then NASA plans to create sails with an area of 2000 square meters based on this technology.
Scientists say new spacecraft with such solar sails will help improve space exploration and pave the way for future propulsion systems that might be used by manned spacecraft.
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2024-04-15 10:01:28
