Robert L. Forward - forward@whidbey.com
Robert Forward writes numerous papers on space travel, including many novel solar sail designs and applications.
These have included, but are not limited to, microwave sails, designs for flyby, one way, and two way laser driven solar sails, the solar photon thruster, and sail levitated orbits.
Robert Forward is also a partner and chief scientist of Tethers Unlimited. Books:Rocheworld,
Martian Rainbow,
Timemaster, and others.
Articles and Reports
Andrea Schena - lucarelli@nava1.uninav.it
Andrea Schena recently completed a thesis on solar sail navigation, including the maneuvers to place a solar sail into a desired levitated orbit.
Fridrikh Tsander
Fridrikh Tsander was an early Russian space visionary who discussed using large, lightweight mirrors for spacecraft propulsion.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was an early Russian space visionary who discussed the possibility of propelling spacecraft by using a beam of light like rocket exhaust.
Jerome Wright - jlwright@cyberstore.ca
Jerome Wright developed a trajectory to rendezvous with Halley's Comet by solar sail in a little over four years from a 1981 launch.
Wright joined a JPL project prompted by his work to design a solar sail for a Halley rendezvous.
This was the most thorough study of solar sailing to date, which produced much valuble information on solar sailing in general and on specific configurations.
Unfortunately, funding was cut for the solar sail in favor of ion engine propulsion, which was also cut later.
After the JPL project was cancelled, Wright and others started the World Space Foundation, which built sqaure sail engineering models and manufacturing equipment.
Their design was to be launched on a race against other sail designs by groups around the world in a race to the moon and mars. Book: Space Sailing Articles and Reports