Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film
The aim of this paper is to analyze the transfer performance of a spacecraft whose primary propulsion system is a diffractive solar sail with active, switchable panels. The spacecraft uses a propellantless thruster that converts the solar radiation pressure into propulsive acceleration by taking adv...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/12/7078 |
| _version_ | 1797596261215371264 |
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| author | Alessandro A. Quarta Giovanni Mengali |
| author_facet | Alessandro A. Quarta Giovanni Mengali |
| author_sort | Alessandro A. Quarta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of this paper is to analyze the transfer performance of a spacecraft whose primary propulsion system is a diffractive solar sail with active, switchable panels. The spacecraft uses a propellantless thruster that converts the solar radiation pressure into propulsive acceleration by taking advantage of the diffractive property of an electro-optically controlled (binary) metamaterial. The proposed analysis considers a heliocentric mission scenario where the spacecraft is required to perform a two-dimensional transfer between two concentric and coplanar circular orbits. The sail attitude is assumed to be Sun-facing, that is, with its sail nominal plane perpendicular to the incoming sunlight. This is possible since, unlike a more conventional solar sail concept that uses metalized highly reflective thin films to reflect the photons, a diffractive sail is theoretically able to generate a component of the thrust vector along the sail nominal plane also in a Sun-facing configuration. The electro-optically controlled sail film is used to change the in-plane component of the thrust vector to accomplish the transfer by minimizing the total flight time without changing the sail attitude with respect to an orbital reference frame. This work extends the mathematical model recently proposed by the authors by including the potential offered by an active control of the diffractive sail film. The paper also thoroughly analyzes the diffractive sail-based spacecraft performance in a set of classical circle-to-circle heliocentric trajectories that model transfers from Earth to Mars, Venus and Jupiter. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:49:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bd9da67616bd478dbdd9cd92c3d5851a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:49:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-bd9da67616bd478dbdd9cd92c3d5851a2023-11-18T09:08:40ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-06-011312707810.3390/app13127078Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive FilmAlessandro A. Quarta0Giovanni Mengali1Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, I-56122 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, I-56122 Pisa, ItalyThe aim of this paper is to analyze the transfer performance of a spacecraft whose primary propulsion system is a diffractive solar sail with active, switchable panels. The spacecraft uses a propellantless thruster that converts the solar radiation pressure into propulsive acceleration by taking advantage of the diffractive property of an electro-optically controlled (binary) metamaterial. The proposed analysis considers a heliocentric mission scenario where the spacecraft is required to perform a two-dimensional transfer between two concentric and coplanar circular orbits. The sail attitude is assumed to be Sun-facing, that is, with its sail nominal plane perpendicular to the incoming sunlight. This is possible since, unlike a more conventional solar sail concept that uses metalized highly reflective thin films to reflect the photons, a diffractive sail is theoretically able to generate a component of the thrust vector along the sail nominal plane also in a Sun-facing configuration. The electro-optically controlled sail film is used to change the in-plane component of the thrust vector to accomplish the transfer by minimizing the total flight time without changing the sail attitude with respect to an orbital reference frame. This work extends the mathematical model recently proposed by the authors by including the potential offered by an active control of the diffractive sail film. The paper also thoroughly analyzes the diffractive sail-based spacecraft performance in a set of classical circle-to-circle heliocentric trajectories that model transfers from Earth to Mars, Venus and Jupiter.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/12/7078diffractive solar sailbinary arrayed gratingpreliminary mission designcircle-to-circle orbit transfer |
| spellingShingle | Alessandro A. Quarta Giovanni Mengali Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film Applied Sciences diffractive solar sail binary arrayed grating preliminary mission design circle-to-circle orbit transfer |
| title | Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film |
| title_full | Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film |
| title_fullStr | Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film |
| title_full_unstemmed | Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film |
| title_short | Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film |
| title_sort | solar sail orbit raising with electro optically controlled diffractive film |
| topic | diffractive solar sail binary arrayed grating preliminary mission design circle-to-circle orbit transfer |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/12/7078 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alessandroaquarta solarsailorbitraisingwithelectroopticallycontrolleddiffractivefilm AT giovannimengali solarsailorbitraisingwithelectroopticallycontrolleddiffractivefilm |