Solar sails that harness the sun’s photonic rays as “wind” are no longer the stuff of science fiction—in fact, the Planetary Society’s practical demonstration of LightSail 2 was considered a Grand Prize Winner for Pop Science‘s Best of What’s New in 2019. And while many projects continue to explore the benefits of solar sails for the future of space travel, a new study shows how promising this technology could be for travel to Earth’s closest neighboring planet, and beyond.
According to a paper recently submitted to the journal Astronautica Act, detailed computer simulations show a small, ultralight solar sail made with aerographite could make the trip to Mars in just 26 days—compared to conventional rocketry estimates of 7 to 9 months. Meanwhile, the journey to the heliopause (the demarcation line of interstellar space where the sun’s magnetic force stops affecting objects) can take between 4.2 and 5.3 years. For comparison, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft took 35 and 41 hours respectively. many years to reach the same limit.
[Related: This novel solar sail could make it easier for NASA to stare into the sun.]
The key to such fast travel is the 1 kg aerographite in the 720 gram solar sail—an ultra-light material with a density four times less than the Mylar component of most solar sail designs. The main caveat with these simulations is that they involve very small payload weights, something that often does not apply to large interplanetary and interstellar voyages.
“Solar sail propulsion has the potential to rapidly deliver small (sub-kilogram) payloads throughout the solar system,” René Heller, an astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and co-author of the study, explained to Universe Today earlier this month. “Compared to conventional chemical propulsion, which can carry hundreds of tons of payload to low Earth orbit and deliver much of that payload to the Moon, Mars and beyond, this sounds minuscule. But the main value of solar sail technology is speed.”
Another issue that still needs to be addressed is the deceleration method required to actually achieve the goal. Although aerocapture—using a planet’s atmosphere to reduce speed—is a possible option, the researchers admit that further investigation will be needed to determine the best and most efficient way to actually take the image. stop at the final destination of the spacecraft equipped with solar sails. Regardless, this research just adds more wind in the sails (so to speak) to an already impressive method of interstellar travel.
2023-10-23 03:39:33
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