scholarly journals Numerical Analysis of Potential Structure around Electric Solar Wind Sail Tethers

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (ists30) ◽  
pp. Pb_83-Pb_89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kento HOSHI ◽  
Hirotsugu KOJIMA ◽  
Hiroshi YAMAKAWA
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Potential Structure ◽  
Electric Solar Wind Sail

scholarly journals Thrust calculation of electric solar wind sail by particle-in-cell simulation

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 845-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kento Hoshi ◽  
Hirotsugu Kojima ◽  
Takanobu Muranaka ◽  
Hiroshi Yamakawa
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Pic Simulation ◽  
Particle In Cell ◽  
Thrust Characteristics ◽  
Potential Structure ◽  
Cell Simulation ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Present Simulation ◽  
Electric Solar Wind Sail

Abstract. In this study, thrust characteristics of an electric solar wind sail were numerically evaluated using full three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The thrust obtained from the PIC simulation was lower than the thrust estimations obtained in previous studies. The PIC simulation indicated that ambient electrons strongly shield the electrostatic potential of the tether of the sail, and the strong shield effect causes a greater thrust reduction than has been obtained in previous studies. Additionally, previous expressions of the thrust estimation were modified by using the shielded potential structure derived from the present simulation results. The modified thrust estimation agreed very well with the thrust obtained from the PIC simulation.

Stability and Control of Spinning Electric Solar Wind Sail in Heliostationary Orbit

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Bassetto ◽  
Giovanni Mengali ◽  
Alessandro A. Quarta
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Stability And Control ◽  
And Control ◽  
Electric Solar Wind Sail

Wire-to-wire bonding of μm-diameter aluminum wires for the Electric Solar Wind Sail

2011 ◽  
Vol 88 (11) ◽  
pp. 3267-3269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henri Seppänen ◽  
Sergiy Kiprich ◽  
Risto Kurppa ◽  
Pekka Janhunen ◽  
Edward Hæggström
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Wire Bonding ◽  
Electric Solar Wind Sail

scholarly journals Increased electric sail thrust through removal of trapped shielding electrons by orbit chaotisation due to spacecraft body

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 3089-3100 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Janhunen
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Electron Gun ◽  
Solar Wind Stream ◽  
Space Propulsion ◽  
Positive Potential ◽  
Trapped Electrons ◽  
Natural Mechanism ◽  
Electric Solar Wind Sail ◽  
Positively Charged

Abstract. An electric solar wind sail is a recently introduced propellantless space propulsion method whose technical development has also started. The electric sail consists of a set of long, thin, centrifugally stretched and conducting tethers which are charged positively and kept in a high positive potential of order 20 kV by an onboard electron gun. The positively charged tethers deflect solar wind protons, thus tapping momentum from the solar wind stream and producing thrust. The amount of obtained propulsive thrust depends on how many electrons are trapped by the potential structures of the tethers, because the trapped electrons tend to shield the charged tether and reduce its effect on the solar wind. Here we present physical arguments and test particle calculations indicating that in a realistic three-dimensional electric sail spacecraft there exist a natural mechanism which tends to remove the trapped electrons by chaotising their orbits and causing them to eventually collide with the conducting tethers. We present calculations which indicate that if these mechanisms were able to remove trapped electrons nearly completely, the electric sail performance could be about five times higher than previously estimated, about 500 nN/m, corresponding to 1 N thrust for a baseline construction with 2000 km total tether length.

Invited Article: Electric solar wind sail: Toward test missions

2010 ◽  
Vol 81 (11) ◽  
pp. 111301 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Janhunen ◽  
P. K. Toivanen ◽  
J. Polkko ◽  
S. Merikallio ◽  
P. Salminen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Solar Wind Sail

One kilometer (1 km) electric solar wind sail tether produced automatically

2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (9) ◽  
pp. 095102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henri Seppänen ◽  
Timo Rauhala ◽  
Sergiy Kiprich ◽  
Jukka Ukkonen ◽  
Martin Simonsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Solar Wind Sail
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