Gossamer roadmap technology reference study for a solar polar mission

Macdonald, Malcolm and McGrath, Ciara and Appourchaux, T and Dachwald, B. and Finsterle, W and Gizon, L and Liewer, P.C. and McInnes, Colin and Mengali, Giovanni and Seboldt, W. and Sekii, T and Solanki, S.K. and Velli, M and Wimmer-Schweingruber, R.F. and Spietz, Peter and Reinhard, Ruedeger; Macdonald, Malcolm, ed. (2014) Gossamer roadmap technology reference study for a solar polar mission. In: Advances in Solar Sailing. Springer Praxis Books: Astronautical Engineering, 1 . Springer Berlin Heidelberg, GBR, pp. 243-258. ISBN 9783642349065 (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34907-2_17)

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Abstract

A technology reference study for a solar polar mission is presented. The study uses novel analytical methods to quantify the mission design space including the required sail performance to achieve a given solar polar observation angle within a given timeframe and thus to derive mass allocations for the remaining spacecraft sub-systems, that is excluding the solar sail sub-system. A parametric, bottom-up, system mass budget analysis is then used to establish the required sail technology to deliver a range of science payloads, and to establish where such payloads can be delivered to within a given timeframe. It is found that a solar polar mission requires a solar sail of side-length 100 – 125 m to deliver a ‘sufficient value’ minimum science payload, and that a 2. 5μm sail film substrate is typically required, however the design is much less sensitive to the boom specific mass.

ORCID iDs

Macdonald, Malcolm ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4499-4281, McGrath, Ciara ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7540-7476, Appourchaux, T, Dachwald, B., Finsterle, W, Gizon, L, Liewer, P.C., McInnes, Colin, Mengali, Giovanni, Seboldt, W., Sekii, T, Solanki, S.K., Velli, M, Wimmer-Schweingruber, R.F., Spietz, Peter and Reinhard, Ruedeger; Macdonald, Malcolm
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