In Example 34.6, we imagined equipping 1950DA, an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth, with a solar sail in hopes of ejecting it from the solar system. We found that the enormous size required for the solar sail makes the plan impossible at this time. Of course, there is no need to eject such an object from the solar system; we only need to change the orbit. A much more pressing problem is Apophis, a 300-m asteroid that may be on a collision course with the Earth and is due to come by on April 13, 2029. It is unlikely to hit the Earth on that pass, but it will return again in 2036. If Apophis passes through a 600-m keyhole on its 2029 pass, it is expected to hit the Earth in 2036, causing great damage. There are plans to deflect Apophis when it comes by in 2029. For example, we could hit it with a 10- to 150-kg impactor accelerated by a solar sail. The impactor is launched from the Earth to start orbiting the Sun in the same direction as the Earth and Apophis. The idea is to use a solar sail to accelerate the impactor so that it reverses direction and collides head-on with Apophis at 80–90 km/s and thereby keeps Apophis out of the keyhole. Consider the momentum in the impactor's orbit (see figure below) when the solar sail makes an angle of ? = 49° P = 1.5 A cos(?) 1 AU = 1.50 ✕ 1011 m.)
and use I c
m/s2
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In Example 34.6, we imagined equipping 1950DA, an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth, with a solar sail in hopes of ejecting it from the solar system. We found that the enormous size required for the solar sail makes the plan impossible at this
Constants In this example we will investigate the viability of using radiation pressure to propel a spacecraft. Suppose a spacecraft with a mass of 2.50 x 10 kg has a solar sail made of perfectly reflective aluminized film with an area of 2.59 x 106 m2 (about 1 square mile). If the spacecraft is launched into earth orbit and then deploys its sail at right angles to the sunlight, what is the acceleration due to sunlight? (At the earth's distance...
Problem Solving: LightSail 2 BOOM LENGTH TOTAL SAIL AREA SIZE REFERENCE 5.6 x 5.6 m (18.4x 18.4ft) 4 m (13ft) 32 m (344ft) Boxing Ring SAIL DEPLOYMENT PROPULSION LightSail 2 was a satellite that was designed to use solar radiation to change its altitude as it circled Earth. The spacecraft had a mass of 5.0kg. It was originally launched by a rocket with its sail closed, and established an orbit at an altitude of 720 km above Earth's surface. Then...