Solar sails represent one of the most plausible options for spaced based missions.

They can be used for a variety of missions and can act as more than just a form of propulsion. To achieve the technology level such that they can properly be utilised a significant level of advancement is still required.

Numerous possible mission trajectories have been proposed for solar sails. The most obvious of these is the post Neptune missions. These missions would take full advantage of the accelerations which the solar sails can attain; far surpassing what can be achieved with other current propulsion technologies. These accelerations can be in the magnitude of 10 AU per year (McInnes,2002). Macdonald et al (2010) present interstellar heliopause probes as the upper limiting bound to which solar sails can be effectively considered for use. Solar sails could also be considered for highly nonkeplarian orbits, where the sail helps achieve observation points which would be not be attainable without the small and continues accelerations which the sail can provide. Another possibility is planet centred and short orbit period applications. These would however be complicated as they generally involve rapid movement of the sail which is difficult due to the nature of the proposed craft (Macdonald et al. 2010). Macdonald et al. (2010) proposed several other potential mission profiles including inner solar system missions, outer solar system flyby missions and solar missions. These missions types are still mid to far term because the risk attempting these more advanced mission profiles are still too large. One potential option to enable more effective use of the solar sail would be to combine the craft with a destination based laser. The laser could focus its energy on the sail significantly increasing the energy transmitted to the craft. Although at greater distances each gigawatt of power supplied would only create 6.7 N of force (Macdonald et al. 2010). Over time this would provide a significant boost in performance. The introduction of the laser is still impractical by current standards; however in comparison to other future propulsion methods this technique could still be practical.

Solar sales have advantages beyond a method for propulsion. McInnes (2002) proposed that solar sails could be used also as radio receivers, for harvesting solar energy and finally that they can be enhanced using beam power. As space crafts move further away from the earth (and the sun) predictably the solar intensity decreases. This means that the crafts electrical subsystems are limited to by their ability to capture and store energy. A solar sail could be very useful in this circumstance as they are able to capture a large amount of solar energy and focus the energy onto photovoltaic cells due to their already large area. This concept has already included the poor collection efficiencies of the sail as well as the inefficiencies in the cell. A similar problem at large distances from the earth is communication. The signal dissipates over large distances, however significant antenna gains can be made by shaping the sail into an appropriate shape. Unfortunately this would be quite difficult as it requires exact control over the whole of the surface of the sail. There are still many areas which need more research before solar sales will can be implemented. Major limitations include charging the sale, deploying the sale and material limitations. Sails ideally consist of two electrically conducting sheets which are separated by a pollymidic substrate (McInnes, 2002). The two sheets need to be charged to prevent them being differentially charged and hen arcing occurring between the two surfaces. There are also still deployment difficulties, particularly

for the much larger sails which are required for missions of greater distance. To best achieve these missions smart materials will also need to be integrated into the craft. The sail material also needs to be developed beyond its current status. Thickness of 1-2 m is required and current materials of this thickness are limited by size. Solar sails have great potential for development and utilisation in the mid and far term. They provide a highly efficient and versatile method for space propulsion, whilst helping to solve other space transport problems. With further technological improvements the sails will be a lot more viable.

References

Jesus, our lord and saviour McInnes,C 2003 Delivering fast and capable missions to the outer collar system, Advances in Space Research, volume 34 pp. 184-191 Macdonald, M & McInnes, C 2004, Solar Sail applications and Future Advancement, 2nd International Symposion on Solar Sailling, New York, USA

McInnes, C 2003, Solar Sailing:Mission applications and engineering Challenges, University of Glasgow Published online 3 November 2003