Review of Solar Magnetic Sailing Configurations for Space Travel

Djojodihardjo, Harijono

doi:10.1007/s42423-018-0022-4

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Furthermore, electric sails and magnetic sails each have a well-defined upper limit corresponding to the typical speed of the solar/stellar wind, i.e., around 400 km/s, as higher spacecraft speeds would lead to a net deceleration instead. 12 Reviews of the magnetic and electric sail concepts can be found in [202] and [203].…”

Section: Electric Sails and Magnetic Sailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chasing nomadic worlds: A new class of deep space missions

Lingam¹,

Hein²,

Eubanks³

2023

Acta Astronautica

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Section: Electric Sails and Magnetic Sailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chasing nomadic worlds: A new class of deep space missions

Lingam¹,

Hein²,

Eubanks³

2023

Acta Astronautica

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“…The plasma magnet appears particularly encouraging in that it is able to interact with an enormous volume of the solar wind (e.g., tens to hundreds of km in extent) while only requiring a small antenna (e.g., meters) with modest power requirements. See [8] for a recent review of magnetic sail concepts. Magnetic sails are capable of only producing modest amounts of lift ( L D ≈ 0.3 [41,28]); they are predominately drag devices, more similar to parachutes than sails, which could be dragged up to the speed of the solar wind (≈ 700 km/s).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic soaring as a means to exceed the solar wind speed

Larrouturou

Higgins

Greason

2022

Front. Space Technol.

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A technique by which a spacecraft can interact with flows of ionized gas in space (the solar wind or interstellar medium) in order to be accelerated to velocities greater than the flow velocity is explored. Inspired by the dynamic soaring maneuvers performed by sea birds and gliders in which differences in wind speed are exploited to gain velocity, in the proposed technique a lift-generating spacecraft circles between regions of the heliosphere that have different wind speeds, gaining energy in the process without the use of propellant and only modest onboard power requirements. In the simplest analysis, the spacecraft motion can be modeled as a series of elastic collisions between regions of the medium moving at different speeds. More detailed models of the spacecraft trajectory are developed to predict the potential velocity gains and the maximum velocity that may be achieved in terms of the lift-to-drag ratio of the vehicle. A lift-generating mechanism is proposed in which power is extracted from the flow over the vehicle in the flight direction and then used to accelerate the surrounding medium in the transverse direction, generating lift (i.e., a force perpendicular to the flow). Large values of lift-to-drag ratio are shown to be possible in the case where a small transverse velocity is imparted over a large area of interaction. The requirement for a large interaction area in the extremely low density of the heliosphere precludes the use of a physical wing, but the use of plasma waves generated by a compact, directional antenna to impart momentum on the surrounding medium is feasible, with the excitation of R-waves, X-waves, Alfven waves, and magnetosonic waves appearing as promising candidates. A conceptual mission is defined in which dynamic soaring is performed on the termination shock of the heliosphere, enabling a spacecraft to reach speeds approaching 2% of c within two and a half years of launch without the expenditure of propellant. The technique may comprise the first stage for a multistage mission to achieve true interstellar flight to other solar systems.

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“…As a result, numerous alternative technologies are being seriously pursued that do not require the on-board transport of fuel (Tajmar 2003). Examples in this category include light sails (Zander 1924;Forward 1984;McInnes 2004;Vulpetti 2012;Lubin 2016;Fu et al 2016), magnetic sails (Zubrin & Andrews 1991;Djojodihardjo 2018) and electric sails (Janhunen 2004;Janhunen et al 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

Propulsion of Spacecrafts to Relativistic Speeds Using Natural Astrophysical Sources

Lingam,

Loeb

2020

Preprint

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In this paper, we explore the possibility of using natural astrophysical sources to accelerate spacecrafts to relativistic speeds from a conceptual standpoint. We focus on light sails and electric sails, which are reliant on momentum transfer from photons and protons, respectively, because these two classes of spacecrafts are not required to carry fuel on board. The payload is assumed to be stationed near the astrophysical source, and the sail is subsequently unfolded and activated when the source is functional. By considering a number of astrophysical objects such as massive stars, microquasars, supernovae, pulsar wind nebulae, and active galactic nuclei, we show that terminal speeds approaching the speed of light might be realizable under idealized circumstances provided that sufficiently advanced sail materials and control techniques exist. We also investigate the constraints arising from the sail's material properties, the voyage through the ambient source environment, and the passage through the interstellar medium. While all of these considerations pose significant challenges to spacecrafts, our analysis indicates that they are not insurmountable in optimal conditions. Finally, we sketch the implications for carrying out future technosignature searches.

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Review of Solar Magnetic Sailing Configurations for Space Travel

Cited by 7 publications

References 27 publications

Chasing nomadic worlds: A new class of deep space missions

Chasing nomadic worlds: A new class of deep space missions

Dynamic soaring as a means to exceed the solar wind speed

Propulsion of Spacecrafts to Relativistic Speeds Using Natural Astrophysical Sources

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