Measuring the Interplanetary Medium with a Solar Sail

Details Measuring the Interplanetary Medium with a Solar Sail Measuring the Interplanetary Medium with a Solar Sail

2003-08-06

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0308108v2

Int.J.Mod.Phys.D13:899-906,2004

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

12 pages

Scientific paper

10.1142/S0218271804004955

NASA has been considering a solar sail that would accelerate a craft to a high velocity (~ 14 AU/yr) by the time it reached 5 AU. Then the sail would be dropped and the craft would coast alone to deep space. We propose that the sail be retained longer. Then the density of the interplanetary medium could be determined by measuring the drag force on the huge sail using radiometric navigational data. Such an experiment would yield an independent, new type of measurement of the interplanetary medium and should be pursued.

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