P4_7 Make a Brake for It!

Authors

  • Suzanne Thomas University of Leicester
  • Declan Roberts University of Leicester
  • David Starkey University of Leicester
  • James Nelms University of Leicester

Abstract

Abstract

The paper investigates the plausibility of using a solar sail to reduce the orbital radius of a satellite around Mars instead of rocket thrusters. This is done by calculating the surface area of sail needed to lower the orbital radius from 3657km to 3517km by deploying the sail for a quarter of the orbit. The resulting surface area is 2.5x10 km2, which is impractical as a replacement for current methods.

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Published

12-12-2012

How to Cite

Thomas, S., Roberts, D., Starkey, D., & Nelms, J. (2012). P4_7 Make a Brake for It!. Physics Special Topics, 11(1). Retrieved from https://journals.le.ac.uk/index.php/pst/article/view/2103

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2012): Physics Special Topics

Section

Articles