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Going from point A to point B in the solar system is no easy task, and heavy, inefficient rockets are not always the best way. Therefore, NASA has announced that it is moving forward with a new concept of solar sailing that could make future spacecraft more efficient and maneuverable. The Diffractive Solar Sailing project is now entering Phase III development of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which could eventually lead to probes that use solar radiation to cost the sun’s polar regions.
The concept of solar sails is old: they were first proposed in the 1980s. The essence is that you equip a boat with a light sail that translates the pressure of solar radiation into propulsion. The problem is that a solar sail must be much larger than the spacecraft it is towing. Even a low-powered solar sail should be almost a square mile, and should be kept intact throughout a mission. Also, you have no choice but to fly in the direction of sunlight, so you have to make amends for power or navigation. Futuristic diffraction light sails could address these shortcomings.
This work is being carried out in the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University under the leadership of Amber Dubil and co-researcher Grover Swartzlander. The project progressed through Phase I and II trials, which had the team developing concept and feasibility studies on diffractive light sails. The Phase III award guarantees $ 2 million in funding over the next two years to design and test materials that could make diffractive light propulsion a reality.
A standard sailboat developed by the Planetary Society in 2019.
A diffracting light candle, as its name suggests, takes advantage of a light property known as diffraction. When light passes through a small opening, it spreads to the other side. This could be used to make a light sail more maneuverable so that it does not have to go where the solar winds blow.
The team will design their prototypes taking into account several possible mission applications. This technology is unlikely to have an impact on missions in the outer solar system where sunlight is weaker and monumental distances require faster modes of transportation. However, heliophysics is a great use case for diffractive dinghy sailing, as it would allow you to visit the polar regions of the sun, which are difficult to access with current technology.
A light sail with the ability to essentially redirect the thrust of a direct stream of sunlight could orbit the poles. It may even be possible to maneuver a constellation of satellites in this difficult orbit to study the sun from a new angle. In a few years, NASA could carry out a demonstration mission. Until then, everything is theoretical.
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