| POST & AUTHOR & Vision | RSS - Ring Segment System | LTH - Launcher Transport Head | EFO - Experimental Flying Object | RSC - Rotational Slingshot Catapult |
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wikipedia.org on solar sailing
1St International Symposium on Solar Sailing Herrsching, Germany 2007
ISSS2010 - The Second International Symposium on Solar Sailing in New York City 2010
Solarsailing 2013, the third International Symposium on Solar Sailing in Glasgow - N E W
IKAROS, the first successfull Solar Sail mission in space.
The Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator 'IKAROS' was launched in July/13/2010 and verified solar sailing, successful Attitude Control by Liquid Crystal Devices and solar power generation with
solar cells on the solar sail panels. Congratulations to JAXA!
Cosmos I, the first solar sail mission
Cosmos I has shown, that building and launching a solar sail on a shoestring budget is possible. The launch had been accomplished on June 21/2005. According to the Makeev Rocket Design Bureau "no stages separated and the whole launch vehicle, plus spacecraft, flew on a much-shortened trajectory into the Barents Sea." Hopefully the Planetary Society will not give up and the solar sail community will move on, to try again.
Solar Sailing Breaks Laws Of Physics?
"Thomas Gold from Cornell University in New York says the proponents of solar sailing have forgotten about thermodynamics "
Thomas Gold´s thesis at his own website at arxis.org
"It seems that the failure to apply the thermodynamic limitations to radiation physics has shown up in many experiments involving radiation pressure."
Benjamin Diedrich´s letter on Thomas Gold´s thesis
"Light pressure does work. It is derived directly from Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. It has been measured in laboratories since 1900, and has played a major role in space missions since the beginning of spaceflight."
"JPL Accomplishes Laser Sail First" (article of 3/2000)
"Engineers have used a laser beam to move a sample of extremely lightweight material using nothing more than the pressure of light."
"We're convinced -- and I think the paper we're writing will be convincing -- that we actually showed photon-momentum propulsion,"
"Last year we were talking about hundreds of degrees centigrade. This year we realized, with this new material we can go to as much as 2,500 degrees centigrade, ..."
Solar Sail Mission Analysis by Colin Mc Innes
"As a result of the internal NASA interest in solar sailing, proponents of solar-electric
propulsion re-evaluated their performance estimates and in the end were competing
directly with solar sailing. After an evaluation of these two advanced propulsion concepts
NASA selected the solar electric system in September 1977, upon its merits of being a less,
but still considerable risk for a comet Halley rendezvous. A short time later a rendezvous
mission using solar electric propulsion was also dropped due to escalating costs."
This shouldn´t happen aigain. With the Solar Thruster Sailor (STS) solar electric propulsion and solar sail propulsion will complement each other in an optimal way, where solar electric thrusters are used to steer the sail, land on and start of asteroids and in mission critical steering phases while the solar sail adds it´s strength in providing free, fuel-less propulsion for long range transportation.
NASA - Revolutionary Propulsion Research - Text Only
Thruster
"Now the European Space Agency has conducted successful tests of a new kind of ion drive, one designed to provide greater thrust than its predecessors. The Helicon Double Layer Thruster (HDLT) uses radio waves to ionise argon gas, creating two layers of plasma between which charged particles can be accelerated in a beam."
"Calculations suggest that a helicon double layer thruster would take up a little more space than the main electric thruster on ESA’s SMART-1 mission, yet it could potentially deliver many times more thrust at higher powers of up to 100 kW whilst giving a similar fuel efficiency."
" A small experimental laboratory model thruster called SAFE has been developed and built to ESA-ACT requirements by ANU, and its performance is being measured during an extensive test campaign in ESA’s Electric Propulsion Test Facility."
featuring informations and product data on different electric thruster models.
"During the 25 years of EPTs use in space, they proved to be highly reliable and compatible with different satellite systems. In addition, EPTs ground test results have not been much different from operational characteristics. EPTs are a priority and basis of Russian Space Agency’s program in the field
of rocket engines development."
"A Japanese rocket lifted off Friday on the world's first mission to collect samples from the surface of an asteroid, part of a four-year
journey covering nearly 400 million miles. "
Muses-C space probe scheduled to visit the 1998 SF36 asteroid in Nov. 2005.
"The MUSES-C spacecraft is equipped with solar powerd electrical propulsion system, and autonomous navigation and guidance system."
The importance of this thruster technology is that applying electricity replaces the fuel which is needed in conventional rockets.
Electricity can be generated for free and in abundance with solar cells in the vicinity of our sun. That would mean, a fuel-less space infrastructure with space crafts using solar sails and some kind of force field propulsion thrusters would be a viable option for space transportation and space exploration around the sun to the inner planets (Merkur, Venus, Earth and Mars).
When do we stop burning billions of dollars to bring mission spacecrafts again and again from earth into space and start using this money to build up a space infra structure with a fleet of spacecrafts staying there, which is reuseable, can do numerous and different tasks and doesn´t need fuel at all?
The Solar Thruster Sailor (STS), a spacecraft combining solar sail propulsion with thrusters and payload area has ample room for solar cells and payload on it´s whole disk area (unlike nowadays first solar sails to come with their already overcrowed payload/function bus). This craft is Low Tech with High Tech materials and uses only a few parts.
Lifters in this case are levitating devices using a high voltage power source instead of fuel for propulsion. 150 successful devices have been registered until Febr. 2003. There are different designs in development pushed forward through a growing base of enthusiastic hobby builders.
The lifter doesn´t seem to use magnetic repulsion, it doesn´t need a separate counter base of opposite charge. The origine of the lifting force is not yet fully understood; but the lifter seems to accelerate ions which produce the lifting thrust.
Lifter Theory - by Evgenij Barsoukov
Mark A. Tecson engineered an improved kind of vortex lifter
t-spark, German lifter site in English and in German language
As those thrusters would sit on the rim of the solar sail they move a large lever and weak forces could be sufficient for steering. Another concept for lever-usage to steer the solar sail are the steering vanes on the square solar sail shown at island.org.
Magnetic Phenomena - Original by Philip Gibbs and Andre Geim
Magnetism
Learning paper written by Dr. David Harrison
Building a Levitator with Bismut plates at www.scitoys.com
Experiments with magnetic levitation - Superconductor - by Rick Hoadley
superconductors.org - Superconductor Information for the beginner
Using the RSS (Ring Segment System) mainly a huge pipe ring with thruster mountings (see picture) you´ll get a spacecraft which is also like the spinning part of a gyroscope having the most of it´s mass in/on the rim of the wheel. Could this device also produce linear thrust?
"Gyroscopic precession & tapping aether"
How a gyroscope works
Gyroscopes Experiments at armageddon.org
"Alien Technology Back Engeneered" by Paul E. Potter
Gravity, Gyroscope, Rotation, Alternative Propulsion, UFO
Harold Aspden describing the late Eric Laithwaites experiment.
"I have searched through many texts. but I have never found an explanation of why a gyroscope should resist being turned in any direction perpendicular to it's axis."
| gsu.edu on gyroscopes | Alex Frolov from Russia about Gyroscopic Propulsion |
| Rotation Defeats Gravity? ascension2000.com on thix theme | Gyroscope Workshop |
| Theory for Gravitic Propulsion | ufoseek.com on UFO propulsion |
| metaresearch.org on properties of gravity | http://www.gyro-scope.co.uk/ |
| NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics (BPP) Project | NASA Aerospace Flywheel Development | Antigravitations Experimente - German bulletin |
alternative science on Prof. Eric Laithwaite The Inventor of the magnetic train and his troubles when demonstrating a gyroscopic device |
producing artificial gravitation by rotation in space International Highschool Space Settlement Design Competition |
Ring Segment System - (RSS) This System makes it possible building Space platforms big enough to provide artificial gravitation through rotation. And yet in a light weight low cost manner WITH TODAY´S TECHNIC. |
american antigravity.com |
"Gravity and enhanced propulsion" - Yahoo Search |
Tethers, Catapult- Propulsion
Describing the catapult-concepts of rail gun, mass driver (coil gun) and magnetic levitation to propell a payload through space.
"Unlike the chemical catapult systems, these systems can be used for launching vehicles from the Earth, Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc. because they use electromagnetic forces to accelerate the vehicle."
I would object this statement through my concept of the Rotational Slingshot Catapult (RSC).
My momentum transfer machine using conventional chemical thrusters and speed and force lever to gain a shooting speed, orders of magnitude higher as in direct thrust mode - the speed lever would enable a catapult with conventional chemical propulsion using the possible higher thrust of this propulsion method.
Space Tethers and MEMS Research
vectorsite.net on Space Tethers
Andrew Nowicki on Tapered Slings and Gunslings
"Creating A City In Space" "based on the use of the Shuttle's External Fuel Tanks. These huge tanks (consisting of slightly
over 100,000 cubic feet of interior space) once retrofitted are called Geodes" Those geode tanks will be used to create huge rotating ring stations in space. 12 to 16 modified Geodes could be joined together to form a rigid wheel, rotating at 1 RPM, providing 1/3 of earth´ gravitation. - Good luck to you, may your vision become reality.
IFO-site (Identified Flying Objects)
- means disced shaped, vertical takeoff and landing
Nanotube Cable Can Connect The Earth And The Moon
The scientists from Russian Academy of Sciences at Chernogolovka have designed a device that allows to produce pretty large amounts of high quality nanotubes.
The Space Elevator - at amazon.com
"Based on three years of NASA-funded studies and written for the technically literate layperson, Edwards and Westling discuss the recent technological advances that now make the space elevator feasible."
This book also gives a good description on status of Carbon Nanotubes production in 2002 and design and production of Carbon Nanotube fibers for the proposed 100 000 km ribbon.
nanoledge.com
"With its unique PCS©(Particle
Coagulating Spinning) process,
Nanoledge can produce fibers loaded
with up to 100% nanotubes"
In 2002 Nanoledge was planning to have fibers of 5 GPa tensile strength and producing kilometer length.
spectrafiber.com
According to their product datasheet they claim to be able to deliver Spectra©2000 fibers 10 times stronger than steel (for instance for space tethers) with a low specific weight of 0.97 g/ccm.
IsoTruss Structures Inc.
- patentholder, claiming "Lightest of All structural tubes and beams, IsoTruss products are up to 75%
lighter and 50% lower cost compared equally to ordinary carbon composites tubes and beams."
12 times stronger than steel
article about BYU technology licensed to the above Utah firm.
"Although most of the technological capability exists now to build DL4, we would hope that the economic and political will power could be in place by around 2020, allowing, after rigorous research and development phases, construction to be complete by 2050. Our settlement consists of a torus, of major radius 1,066m, with simulated gravity of 1g in the human habitats and a spin rate of 0.97rpm."
"Creating A City In Space" "based on the use of the Shuttle's External Fuel Tanks. These huge tanks (consisting of slightly
over 100,000 cubic feet of interior space) once retrofitted are called Geodes" Those geode tanks will be used to create huge rotating ring stations in space. 12 to 16 modified Geodes could be joined together to form a rigid wheel, rotating at 1 RPM, providing 1/3 of earth´ gravitation. - Good luck to you, may your vision become reality.
Space Mining
Multiple Near-Earth Asteroid Sample Return
"The scarcity of the precious metals is not really that there are not lots of them on Earth, it is just that
over 4 billion years of tectonic mixing they have mostly moved to Earth's core.""These same
metals are not hidden on asteroids, since there has been no tectonic action and almost no gravity."
This craft could land on near sun asteroids taking a probe and getting back to earth with a head start through the enhanced solar pressure at the asteroids perihelion. The solar pressure relation to it´s distance to sun is 1 / r^2. A solar sail taking off at the asteroids perihelion with it´s load get´s the most off the solar pressure acceleration possible there. At 0.25 AU the solar pressure is about 16 times as strong as near earth. In this region you could use a 16 times smaller solar sail having the same power as near earth. But since this craft is also lighter, it can gain higher acceleration or use the saved weight for payload! It could be brought to the asteroid using a " solar sail mother ship " (see Fig.5) or the Rotational Slingshot Catapult (RSC) AND it could get back to earth delivering the payload through using the sail as a parachute when landing.
Why settle on an asteroid or moon for Space Mining? This System would enable a space platform providing room and artificial gravity for ore separation. How does it get to the asteroid? Since this platform is convertible to a solar sail, it could be assembled at LEO, stuffed with a sail and reaching it´s destination using it´s own propulsion. When the destination is reached, the sail can be skipped again for the main application.
Atens are the most promising targets for Mini solar sails since they are nearest to sun and not far away from earth. Apollos are also promising if they have a close near sun approach.
"Near Earth asteroids constitute the most accessible source of pristine extraterrestrial material in the solar system, apart from the
Moon, These bodies hold, in their chemical makeup, fundamental information about the conditions under which the planets formed and evolved. For a modest cost, inexpensive missions can be mounted to rendezvous with or return samples from a selection of these objects. Human missions to NEAs are also seen as a logical first step to the utilization and settlement of the solar system."
"The 1992 discovery of a water-ice, near-Earth object (NEO) in the space near Earth is evaluated as a source of rocket fuel and life support materials for Earth orbit use."
"This August 14, 1992 an active comet named (4015) 1979 VA = Wilson Harrington, has been reported in the swarm of asteroidal, near Earth objects (NEO's),
whose orbits cross or come close to that of Earth. It would provide massive quantities of water to be used either as rocket fuel ore or directly as rocket propellant.
Engineering analysis discovered that even the simplest nuclear heated steam rockets would enable the return of massive quantities of the comet's water to earth
orbits. Calculations estimate that the cost to users could lie somewhere between $5 and $100 per pound. The first uses would be as rocket propellant or fuel to take
commercial satellites from low orbit to their operational high orbit. "
The Challenge of Space Mining at spacedaily.com
Extraction Techniques for Minerals in Space
Asteroid-Mining at howstuffworks.com
Drilling Technology for Mars - article at space.com
Asteroids & Kuiper Belt Objects at Space.com
"The drill was deployed and penetrated to a depth of 35 cm before encountering hard rock or large fragments of rock. The column of regolith in the drill tube was then transferred to the soil sample container. After 26 hours and 25 minutes on the lunar surface, the ascent stage, with the hermetically sealed soil sample container, lifted off from the Moon carrying 101 grams of collected material...".
Space Tugboats
"an expert team of astronauts and space scientists has blueprinted a safety strategy for Earth: an asteroid tugboat."
Considerations to employ a deflection strategy of earth threating asteroids using a spacecraft with Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) engines. The tug would gently push the asteroid into the desired direction "the tug must use onboard engines for months to accelerate the asteroid in the desired direction."Asteroide / Comet Deflection N E W
SSI is suggesting a mass driver to deflect an asteroid.
Our Sun
Towards sun, this is the way to go first for human space development. The sun provides free power in abundance which could be used for space manufacturing and fabrication. Using solar sail technology for transportation coupled with electro-magnetic steering taking advantage of sun´s force fields, will allow spacecrafts which don´t need fuel - as long as the craft stays in sun´s vicinity. The shortest way to outer space and even to Mars could lead to sun first since spacecraft gains most acceleration as close to our star as possible.
ESA and NASA working together "to explain the newest theories about the way in which the Sun connects to and affects life on Earth".
"SOHO is a cooperative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). SOHO studies the sun from deep down in its core out to 32 solar radii. The spacecraft orbits
the L1 Lagrangian point"
"aiming at the understanding of the solar influences upon the earth's
environment in terms of energy flow from the sun." Some links about - Sun´s Magnetic Field -
"This electric model explains not only the deep origin, the form and the ions of these beautiful filaments but
also the matter transport in them, their missing sections and their missing infrared emission. This very new model has no corona problem and does not need any "dynamo"."
Magnetism - the Key to Understanding the Sun by NASA
Snap-1 - A Low Cost Modular Nano Satellite with Cold Gas Propulsion System
NANOSPACE-1 - The First Swedish Nanosatellite due to be launched in late 2003 or early 2004
Solid Propellant Micro Thruster - an alternative propulsion device for nanosatellites.
A Micro Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT) for the
"Dawgstar" Spacecraft
Astronews.com - German Space and Astro-News site
de.sci.raumfahrt - German Language Space Newsgroup
Yahoo Query on solar sail calculations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) - Good Search Source for Space Technologie
Max Planck Gesellschaft eDoc Server
Micro- and Nanospacecrafts and satellites
Snap 1 was successfully lofted into orbit on June 28th 2000 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on-board a russian Cosmos Launch Vehicle. In this paper D. M. Gibbon discusses the university of Surrey´s design philosophy for COTS-based nano-satellites and reviews the initial results of the SNAP-1 mission.
using miniaturization and Multifunctional Microsystems (MMS). It will weight about seven kg and test highly advanced Micro Systems Technology (MST). "This new class of high performing small sattellites will provide the ground for a better and less expensive exploration of space."
This LAAS-CNRS-paper comes along with an overview of micropropulsion developments. The concept of the Micro Solid Propellant Thruster is based on the high rate combustion of one sigle propellant or explosive stored in a combustion chamber. The lack of restart ability is compensated by the fabrication of arrays of microrockets.
"The AFOSR/DARPA sponsored University Nanosat program aims to produce a small fleet of nano- satellites in the 10 kg class.
This challenging project has resulted in a variety of concepts from the student design teams. Among the most ambitious is the "Dawgstar"
from the University of Washington. It proposes to use micro-PPT thrusters to formation fly with two other student built satellites in a
constellation known as ION-F. At 10 to 20 kg, it will be the smallest spacecraft ever to fly with a propulsion system."Billboards
"How to build a Space Habitat - Our future is in space, we need to start building"
"Maillist for the Space Studies Institute (SSI), a non-profit organization funding research into space development."
News
Newsgroups
The sci.space.tech newsgroup online, this service is provided by Google.com.Search the Search Engines
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