Solar Sailing Technology, Dynamics and Mission Applications Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH Colin Robert McInnes Solar Sailing Technology, Dynamics and Mission Applications i Springer Colin Robert McInnes BSc, PhD, CEng, FRAS, FRAes Professor of Space Systems Engineering Department of Aerospace Engineering University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland ISBN 978-1-85233-102-3 ISBN 978-1-4471-3992-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-3992-8 SPRINGER-PRAXIS BOOKS IN ASTRONAUTICAL ENGINEERING SUBJECT ADVISORY EDITOR: John Mason B S c , M S c , Ph.D Springer-Verlag is a part of Springer Science+Business Media (springeronline.com) First published 1999 Reprinted and reissued 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin, Hiedelberg, New York ISBN 978-1-85233-102-3 A catalogue record for this book is available from the Deutsche Bibliothek A record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1999 Originally published by Praxis Publishing Ltd, Chichester, UK in 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc., in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use Cover design: Jim Wilkie For Karen and Calum Our traveller knew marvellously the laws of gravitation, and all the attractive and repulsive forces He used them in such a timely way that, once with the help of a ray of sunshine, another time thanks to a co-operative comet, he went from globe to globe, he and his kin, as a bird flutters from branch to branch VOLTAIRE: Micromegas, 1752 Contents List of illustrations and tables Foreword Author's preface xv XXI xxiii Acknowledgements XXVll Glossary of terms XXIX Introduction to solar sailing 1.1 Principles of solar sailing 1.2 Perspectives 1.2.1 Pioneers 1.2.2 Early optimism 1.2.3 Chasing a comet 1.2.4 Celestial races 1.2.5 Testing times 1.2.6 New millennium 1.2.7 Lessons of history 1.3 Practicalities of solar sailing 1.3.1 Solar sail configurations 1.3.2 Performance metrics 1.3.3 Solar sail orbits 1.3.4 Comparison with other propulsion systems 1.4 Solar sail mission applications 1.4.1 Applicability 1.4.2 Inner solar system missions 1.4.3 Outer solar system missions 1.4.4 Non-Keplerian orbits 1 2 7 10 11 11 13 14 17 19 19 21 23 24 x Contents 1.5 Future development 1.5.1 Near term 1.5.2 Autonomous explorers 1.5.3 Speculation 1.6 Further reading Historical interest Selected introductory papers Solar sailing books Solar sail internet sites 25 25 27 28 29 29 30 31 31 Solar radiation pressure 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Historical view of solar radiation pressure 2.3 The physics of radiation pressure 2.3.1 Quantum description 2.3.2 Electromagnetic description 2.3.3 Force on a perfectly reflecting solar sail 2.4 Radiative transfer methods 2.4.1 Specific intensity 2.4.2 Angular moments of specific intensity 2.5 Radiation pressure with a finite solar disc 2.5.1 Why the inverse square law is inadequate 2.5.2 Uniformly bright solar disc 2.5.3 Limb-darkened solar disc 2.6 Solar sail force models 2.6.1 Optical force model 2.6.2 Parametric force model 2.7 Other forces 2.8 Summary 2.9 Further reading Historical interest Radiative transfer Solar sail force model 32 32 33 34 34 36 38 40 40 42 43 43 43 46 46 47 51 54 54 55 55 55 55 Solar sail design 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Design parameters 3.3 Sail films 3.3.1 Design considerations 3.3.2 Substrates 3.3.3 Coatings 3.3.4 Metallic sail films 3.3.5 Environmental effects 3.3.6 Sail bonding, folding and packing 3.4 Solar sail structures 56 56 57 60 60 61 62 64 66 67 69 Contents 3.S 3.6 3.7 3.8 Solar sail configurations 3.S.1 Optimum solar sail configurations 3.S.2 Three-axis stabilised square sail 3.S.3 Spin-stabilised heliogyro 3.S.4 Spin-stabilised disc sail 3.S.S Solar photon thruster 3.S.6 High-performance solar sails 3.S.7 Micro-solar sails Recent case studies in solar sail design 3.6.1 World Space Foundation (WSF) 3.6.2 Union pour la Promotion de la Propulsion Photonique (U3P) 3.6.3 Johns Hopkins University (JHU) 3.6.4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 3.6.S Cambridge Consultants Ltd (CCL) 3.6.6 ODISSEE mission (DLR/JPL) Summary Further reading Non-spinning solar sails Spinning solar sails High-performance solar sails Solar sail technologies Attitude control Solar sail orbital dynamics 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Equations of motion 4.2.1 Vector equation of motion 4.2.2 Sail force vector 4.2.3 Polar equations of motion 4.2.4 Lagrange variational equations 4.3 Sun-centred orbits 4.3.1 Introduction 4.3.2 Conic section orbits 4.3.3 Logarithmic spiral trajectories 4.3.4 Locally optimal trajectories 4.3.S Globally optimal trajectories 4.4 Planet-centred orbits 4.4.1 Introduction 4.4.2 Suboptimal trajectories 4.4.3 Minimum time escape trajectories 4.4.4 Approximate escape time 4.4.S Solution by the Hamilton-Jacobi method 4.S Summary Xl 71 72 76 81 89 91 9S 97 99 99 102 103 104 lOS 107 109 109 109 11 110 110 111 112 112 113 113 liS 118 119 120 120 121 129 136 148 lSI lSI IS2 163 163 164 168 [Ch.7 282 Laser-driven light sails 0.12 r -~ ~~-~~-~ ~ ~ / / 0.1 / / -g 0.08 ~ Non-relativistic / / / / Q) ~0.08 '"co ~