Fourth FORTE colloquium

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Solar Sail Propulsion For Exploring the Solar System

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Abstract:

Imagine using sunlight to sail through space. Doing so is now possible using a solarsail. This exciting new type of space propulsion will enable small spacecraft to accesspropulsive-intense destinations, allowing observations of the Sun and deep space missions that arecurrently extremely difficult or impossible to achieve. The continuous photon pressure from thesun provides thrust, with no need for the heavy, expendable propellants employed by conventionalon-board chemical and electric propulsion systems. NASA is developing solar sails ranging in sizefrom 86 m^2 (for use by extremely small spacecraft) to as large as 2000 m^2 for spacecraft withmasses up to 100 kg. The fundamentals of solar sailing will be described as will the excitingpotential future missions they will enable: from those that help us better understand the sun to thosethat might one day allow us to send spacecraft to another star.

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Join us for refreshments fifteen minutes prior to the event

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Les Johnson  is CEO of Infinite Frontiers Consulting, LLC,  PI of NASA's Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout and Solar Cruiser missions and CFO (retired) at NASA’s Marshal Space Flight Centre. The colloquium is part of the seminar series of the Division of Elementary Particle Physics at FZU.