Cosmos 1 has 8 triangular sails, each 15 meters (50 feet) in length, configured around the spacecraft's body at the center. The sails will be deployed by inflatable tubes once the spacecraft is in orbit.
Guy N. Cognito wrote:Cool, it'll be intereessting to see how well she holds up and how fast they can get her going. What about slowing down and getting back though?
This one is only a proof of principle test vehicle.
Solar sails in general can move closer to the sun by orienting themselves so that the sunlight pressure is incident on the leading side of the sail. This causes the vehicle to loose orbital velocity and the vehicle spirals closer to the sun. In order to move away from the sun, the sail is oriented so as to receive the sunlight to the trailing side of the sail, so that the sail gains orbital velocity and spirals away from the sun.
CotK <mew> | HAB | JL | MM | TTC | Cybertron
TAX THE CHURCHES! - Lord Zentei TTC Supreme Grand Prophet
And the LORD said, Let there be Bosons! Yea and let there be Bosoms too!
I'd rather be the great great grandson of a demon ninja than some jackass who grew potatos. -- Covenant
Dead cows don't fart. -- CJvR
...and I like strudel! -- Asuka
Guy N. Cognito wrote:Hold up, this thing is going towards the sun?
No. It is just a proof of pinciple flight, as far as I am aware. An interplanetaty shuttle, however, would obviously be in solar orbit. In order to go from Mars to Earth, say, it would have to loose orbital energy, causing it to spiral closer to the Sun.
CotK <mew> | HAB | JL | MM | TTC | Cybertron
TAX THE CHURCHES! - Lord Zentei TTC Supreme Grand Prophet
And the LORD said, Let there be Bosons! Yea and let there be Bosoms too!
I'd rather be the great great grandson of a demon ninja than some jackass who grew potatos. -- Covenant
Dead cows don't fart. -- CJvR
...and I like strudel! -- Asuka
Guy N. Cognito wrote:Hold up, this thing is going towards the sun?
No. It is just a proof of pinciple flight, as far as I am aware. An interplanetaty shuttle, however, would obviously be in solar orbit. In order to go from Mars to Earth, say, it would have to loose orbital energy, causing it to spiral closer to the Sun.
Sorry about mixing a interplanetary shuttle into the discussion and causing confusion.
The principle that I stated earlier also applies for sails in planetary orbits. If the solar radiation is incident on the trailing side of the sail, it gains orbital energy and so spirals into a higher orbit. If the radiation is incident on the leading side of the sail, it looses orbital energy and spirals into a lower orbit. There are of course various complications - solar sail navigation is not simple - but that is the essence of it.
CotK <mew> | HAB | JL | MM | TTC | Cybertron
TAX THE CHURCHES! - Lord Zentei TTC Supreme Grand Prophet
And the LORD said, Let there be Bosons! Yea and let there be Bosoms too!
I'd rather be the great great grandson of a demon ninja than some jackass who grew potatos. -- Covenant
Dead cows don't fart. -- CJvR
...and I like strudel! -- Asuka
-- Asuka