I updated the circular sail web pages with new descriptions and graphics.
The pictures are a bit more realistic, except that I haven't added backdrops with stars yet.
Let me know what you think.
NASA's budget for space science includes funding for gossamer spacecraft.
Note this document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.
These are large thin film deployable structures, including solar sails.
The document says on page 3, paragraph 2, that developing this technology will help NOAA and the USAF with their space weather and solar activity monitoring programs.
NOAA and the USAF are developing GEOSTORMS just for this purpose.
The Znamya 2.5 space mirror experiment has been called off because the mirror became entangled with a communications antenna during deployment.
Znamya 2.5 and the Progress cargo spaceraft which it is attached to be dropped into the atmosphere today.
For further details, see the following articles:
I saw Mir and the Znamya 2.5 space mirror tonight at about 6:55 pm pacific standard time, about an hour after sunset from the countryside near Tacoma, Washington in the U.S.
The two spacecraft rose from west by northwest and were separated by about 1 degree.
The lead spacecraft was much brighter than any satellite I have ever seen, so I assume it was Znamya 2.5, even though the mirror did not fully deploy.
About halfway across the sky, they winked out as they passed into Earth's shadow.
Solar Sailing 101 is a new document I wrote to give a basic intro to solar sails.
Please read it and let me know what's wrong with it.
Znamya 2.5 space mirror failed to open today for its scheduled illumination test.
The mirror snagged on an antenna of the Progress resupply spacecraft from which it was deploying.
After two unsuccessful attempts to free the mirror and continue deploying it, mission controllers are considering ending the experiment.
Znamya 2.5 will be deployed from a Progress resupply spacecraft next to the Mir space station at 1 pm Moscow time (11 am Greenwich Mean Time) on Thursday, February 4th.
For viewing details, look under "Znamya 2.5 experiment will carry out February 4, 1999!" after selecting "English" or "Russian" on the Space Regatta Consortium page. Current location of Mir. Space News features an article on Znamya in the February 8, 1999 (Vol. 10, No. 5) issue.
Znamya-2.5
- The newest Russian space mirror, Znamya-2.5, was placed on the Russian Mir space station by a Progress M40 on October 25th.
Follow the previous link for further details.
Added August 30, 1998
Znamya
- The Znamya experiment program by the Space Regatta Consortium and RSC Energia to develop large, thin film, deployable structures for solar sail propulsion and illumination of areas of the Earth at night.
Added August 17, 1998
Solar Sails for the Operational Space Community by Patricia Mulligan.
This Spaceviews article describes the current state of solar sails.
In particular, recently conceived applications for very near-term low and moderate performance sails are discussed.
NASA Web Search Engine.
NASA has set up a search engine that lets you search all of NASA's web pages.
Try a search for "solar sail."
The first couple pages of results are the most interesting.
Solar Sailing by Eric Drexler.
A discussion about solar sails in general and high performance solar sails in particular.
Added January 26, 1998
DLR Solar Sail Homepage.
The solar sail homepage has been updated with information about their research activities.
Included is information about the ODISEE demonstration mission, Mercury orbiter and asteroid rendezvous missions, and sail structure technology.
There are also numerous pictures of solar sail spacecraft.
Added December 12, 1997
GEOSTORMS.
A mission to levitate a solar storm warning spacecraft closer to the sun than the sun-earth L1 point using a solar sail.
Look under "Smallsats" and "GEOSTORMS."
Added December 2, 1997
Solar Sail Project.
This page describes a solar sail project currently underway at the Space Systems Dynamics Laboratory at Kyushu University in Japan.
In Japanese.
Solar Sail Navigation School.
This is an excellent Java applet available on the U3P solar sail web site which allows you to control a solar sail starting from an orbit near the Earth.
Solar Sail Homepage.
This is a new solar sail webpage currently under construction.
Earth to Orbit Transportation Bibliography.
Entry 32, the MOON-EARTH MOMENTUM EXCHANGE, discusses using solar sails to transfer mass between the Earth and Moon.
Included is a picture of an orbital sail fabrication machine.
Added January 6, 1997
Proposed Methods of Interstellar Travel, including solar, laser, and microwave sails, as well as charged particle beam propelled magnetic sails. By Nathan Millard.
Using a Solar Sail for a Plasma Storm Early Warning System.
This plan uses a solar sail to provide levitation over the sun and active control to maintain a solar storm detection system closer to the sun than the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L1).
NOAA is examining implementing this mission in the near future.
Future Mission Concept NRA Results.
The Solar Polar Sail Mission submitted by Marcia Neugebauer is one of 19 out of 70 mission plans selected by NASA for further study.
Union for the Promotion of Photonic Propulsion (U3P) - general information on solar sails and U3P by Olivier Boisard.
This page has recently been updated.
It now contains many new images, Quicktime movies, VRML solar sail models, and technical reports.
