Spin Stabilized Solar Sails

Circular Sails and Heliogyros

Spinning a solar sail pulls the sail material out tight and flat so it doesn't collapse when sunlight pushes on it. This is called centripetal acceleration, and is the same effect that prevents water from flowing out of a bucket that is being swung in a circle. Because the sail material itself is very lightweight, it is a good idea to reinforce it with some tension lines to carry most of the loads caused by spinning. One nice effect is the sail will need very little heavy structure, because tension lines are a lot lighter than the booms used in 3 axis supported solar sails. Thus, spinning sails have potential for being lighter and faster.

Last modified: Fri Sep 15 12:43:03 PDT 2000