Comments on: Solar Sail Spacecraft, Feared Defunct, Finally Goes Into Action

By: quasi44

quasi44 — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:39:04 +0000

@ James and templerman ; You guys are missing the point of this craft. As we specialize and miniaturize, our need for large craft to do lots of small but important tasks will shrink to nearly nothing. This technology was about the capability of a compact launch vehicle deploying a microsatellite. The launch vehicle itself is what we’d typically call a microsatellite. The significance for orbital deployment of many smaller, light powered orbital platforms is that the price for these craft has now come down to the point that a typical small but specialized business can begin to take advantage of direct control and usage of space technologies. I’m going to start building myself one and getting my permission to fly it.

By: templerman

templerman — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:59:58 +0000

Well, The Outer Space Treaty says nothing about the use of nuclear power for spacecraft propulsion, so I guess it would be legal. The problem is that some people fear the fallout effect of a nuclear power generator in the event of an exploding rocket during launch. The use of solar sail tech is not much eco-friendly as it is cheaper and simpler to develop and use.

By: James Greenidge

James Greenidge — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:17:01 +0000

It’s rather sobering to me that all in the PC name of being eco/planet-friendly we’re tooling around with solar sails when we’d successfully tested nuclear space drives as far back as the 1960′s whose decendants today could’ve allowed a round trip to Mars anytime within a mere couple of months if not even less. In the sixties Project Rover forcasted utilizing nuclear drives to establish small bases on Mars in the late 1980′s and even manned Saturn fly-bys by 2000! Maybe it’ll take countries like China and India or Russia who aren’t so skittish about nuclear-energy to fulfill the potential of nuclear space drives. I’m pretty sure China would if they were up to speed on the concept.

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:48:51 +0000

I wonder if the sail’s problem could be that Earth-bound tests of the unfurling involved unnoticed vibrations that helped overcome static friction, whereas in space there would be no outside source for those vibrations. Total guess.