NASA To Demonstrate Largest-Ever Solar Sail in Space

Zothecula writes "NASA's upcoming Technology Demonstration Missions are intended to 'transform its space communications, deep space navigation and in-space propulsion capabilities.' Three project proposals have been selected for these missions, which should be launching in 2015 and 2016. One of those projects will involve demonstrating a mission-capable solar sail. While NASA has recently tested a solar sail measuring 100 square feet (9.29 square meters), this one will be the largest ever flown, spanning a whopping 409 square feet, or 38 square meters."

Comments

An important step towards propusion

[Covalent]

At this size (0.000038 km^2) the amount of thrust generated by this sail will be 0.0003477N. If the total mass of sail and attached spacecraft is 100kg, then the acceleration will be 3.477E-6 m/s^2. After a month at this acceleration, the craft will be traveling at 9m/s. That's only about 20mph. Not very fast, but an important proof of concept.

Re:An important step towards propusion

[rolias]

Except that the article is wrong. The sail will be 38m wide, or 1444m^2. That's 0.013N: 2 * (38m)^2 * 1368W/m^2 / (300,000,000m/s)

"spanning a whopping 409 square feet..."

[Cornwallis]

Whopping? That's only about four times larger. Certainly not "whopping".

Re:"spanning a whopping 409 square feet..."

[LWATCDR]

Sorry you are wrong. In the Slashdot system of universal measurements you only have to have a 2x expansion to == a whopping. An 8x or greater requires the addition of the prefix great and a 64x an additional prefix of huge as in a huge great whopping. You transition to hugenormus once the surface area == one standard library of congress rendered in courier 10 point font, double sided on A4 sized paper, at standard temperature and pressure.
Hope that cleared it up for you.

Re:"spanning a whopping 409 square feet..."

[sir_eccles]

Well, how big is YOUR solar sail?

Microwave Power

[cobrausn]

If Sim City is to be believed, I expect this to go into production as a viable energy source around 2020. As long as they don't cut funding. They would regret that.

Complete story

[Anonymous Coward]

For the complete story, see the NASA announcement from August 22nd: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/crosscutting_capability/tech_demo_missions.html

The sail is 38x38m. Two 20x20m sails were developed for NASA in 2005 by L'Garde and ATK. The thrust on the sail is approximately: 2 * (38m)^2 * 1368 W/m^2 / c ~= 0.01 N

SIX POINT TWO TRILLION DOLLARS A YEAR

[Shivetya]

that is the estimated combine budgets of every form of government in the United States. Federal, state, and local.

and people seem to have a never ending list of wants, yet it is so very disappointing what little we are getting for that expenditure. So little of the money goes to non-vote buying schemes that we become desperate to find dollars to spend on something right.

There is no best use of government funds atm because atm the Congress controls nearly fou trillion of it, a good amount that doesn't even exist yet and our descendants will have to pay, and they could not even agree on finding three billion dollars in offsets for increased spending by FEMA.

We blow through NASA's budget in two days of spending at the Federal Level. These missions are nothing. The waste alone in Medicare/Medicade (estimated at over one hundred billion a year) would put men on Mars. Someone will bring up the wars but those are a distraction used by one side to hide the waste of government and used by another to buy votes from their side. Never vote for a D or a R candidate, you simply kick the ball down the street.

Re:409 sq. ft.?

[rolias]

The Gizmag article was... imprecise. The sail will be a square 38m wide, with an area about 1400 m^2. It's based on a 20m wide sail L'Garde built and tested for NASA in 2005. More info here: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/crosscutting_capability/tech_demo_missions.html