Solar sail material
Autor/Urheber:
NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
Shortlink:
Quelle:
Größe:
3000 x 2171 Pixel (2127899 Bytes)
Beschreibung:
Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) Interstellar Propulsion Research department are proposing different solutions to combustion propellants for future space travel. One alternative being tested is the solar sail. The idea is, once deployed, the sail will allow solar winds to propel a spacecraft away from Earth and towards its destination. This would allow a spacecraft to travel indefinitely without the need to refuel during its long journey. Thin reflective sails could be propelled through space by sunlight, microwave beams, or laser beams, just as the wind pushes sailboats on Earth. The sail will be the largest spacecraft ever built, spanning 440 yards, twice the diameter of the Louisiana Super Dome. Construction materials are being tested in a simulated space environment, where they are exposed to harsh conditions to test their performance and durability in extremely hot and cold temperatures. A leading candidate for the construction material is a carbon fiber material whose density is less than 1/10 ounce per square yard, the equivalent of flattening one raisin to the point that it covers a square yard. In space, the material would unfurl like a fan when it is deployed from an expendable rocket. This photo shows Les Johnson, manager of MSFC's Interstellar Propulsion Research Center holding the rigid, lightweight carbon fiber. An artist's concept of the sail is on the right. Mankind's first venture outside of our solar system is proposed for launch in a 2010 timeframe. An interstellar probe, powered by the fastest spacecraft ever flown, will zoom toward the stars at 58 miles per second. It will cover the distance from New York to Los Angeles in less than a minute and will travel over 23 billion miles beyond the edge of the solar system.
Lizenz:
Public domain
Bild teilen:
Relevante Bilder
Relevante Artikel
Sonnensegel (Raumfahrt)Das Sonnensegel, auch Lichtsegel, Photonensegel oder Solarsegel genannt, ist ein Konzept, bei dem der Strahlungsdruck des Sonnenlichtes zum Antrieb von Raumsonden genutzt werden soll. Ähnliche Ideen hatten in den 1920er Jahren schon der deutsche Ingenieur Hermann Oberth (1923) und der russische Raumfahrtpionier Konstantin Ziolkowski (1924). Der Begriff des Sonnensegelns wurde erst später von Richard Garwin (1958) geprägt. Die ersten Ideen zu diesem Konzept brachte Johannes Kepler ein, nachdem er als erster den Strahlungsdruck als Hintergrund des Kometenschweifs anbrachte. .. weiterlesen