Nasa solar sail?

[astrobuff]

If the planetary solar sail is lost, why dont Nasa send one up???<br /><br />Will they ever?<br /><br />Astro

 

[vogon13]

NASA had some pretty fascinating plans for a solar sail rondevous with Comet Halley back in '86. <br /><br /><br />Budget Director David Stockman never ponied up any money for that mission.<br /><br />Artwork looked nice.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[cyrostir]

i really wish they hadnt used those old russian cold war era ICBM's, they should of at least asked for some help in using a safer rocket

 

[radarredux]

> <i><font color="yellow">why dont Nasa send one up?</font>/i><br /><br />There are an infinite number of good ideas that deserve funding, but only a small number can get funding. Each idea must have a team than can "sell" the idea to the appropriate people. Meanwhile, other teams are trying to sell their ideas to the same people. A lot of it comes down to who can make the best sales pitch.<br /><br />Hmm... sounds like the beginning of a Reality TV show.</i>

 

[lycan359]

"i really wish they hadnt used those old russian cold war era ICBM's, they should of at least asked for some help in using a safer rocket"<br /><br />And who would pay for it?

 

[cyrostir]

i said "asked for help"!!!!!! <br /><br />i never said pay for it!!!!<br /><br />gahhh <br /><br /><br />RadarRedux thats a funny idea, <br /><br />coming up next: "which space agency can get funding for a solar sail spacecraft the fastest? join us on our 4 year search to find out!!!!"

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"Hmm... sounds like the beginning of a Reality TV show."</font><br /><br />I predict that the team of solar sail scientists that has the best looking female (who generally wears a translucent lab coat over an 'afterthought' bikini) wins hands-down. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[tap_sa]

A similar reality show about CEV: LM still wins, thanks to their busty team leader wearing nothing but Lifting Bodice.

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"thanks to their busty team leader wearing nothing but Lifting Bodice. "</font><br /><br />Nope -- the Boeing/Northrup team lead would be wearing a very sheer blouse with the A/C down low to provide a fine display of her Caplets. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[neul]

I think such cheap, economical things as solar sails are beneath NASA's notice. They want something flashy and wasteful and fast so they can boost their funding. <br /><br />Too bad about that Cosmos-1 fiasco. But hey... a Russian ICBM, fired from a Russian sub, burning Russian rocket fuel... what do you expect? No wonder it was a dud. <br /><br />Personally, I would much rather discuss women's lingerie.

 

[drwayne]

"a Russian ICBM, fired from a Russian sub, burning Russian rocket fuel"<br /><br />The Russians in fact make some excellent rocket engines, some of which are "better" than ours.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[bushuser]

Todays article at space.com made me do some back-of-envelope math. The Planetary Society lost their $4 million solar sail on the back of an apparently unreliable booster. The orbital module weighed 90 pounds [40 kg].<br /><br />At $10,000/pound, the Society could pay NASA $1 million to deploy it from the space shuttle. Assume they can build a duplicate for less than the first copy. Assume NASA can budget an extra 50 kg into payload on one of the remaining missions. Allow 10 kg for a grappling fixture and whatever latches the thing down during flight. Assume there are no serious safety issues with the device [such as pyrotechnics]. For something this small, you could simply "throw" it out of the cargo bay with the grappling arm.<br /><br />I bet this could be done for less than $2 million if NASA doesn't have to pay for it.

 

[n_kitson]

"to deploy it from the space shuttle"<br /><br />Umm, what was that you said about using an apparently unreliable booster?

 

[bushuser]

Ignoring for a moment the terrible human tragedy, and launch delays,the STS system has performed better than 98% of the time. I think any actuary would take those odds.

 

[gunsandrockets]

"I think such cheap, economical things as solar sails are beneath NASA's notice. They want something flashy and wasteful and fast so they can boost their funding."<br /><br />Oh really? What about Deep Space One? With DS-1 NASA tested (successfully) all kinds of improved technology including high efficiency solar-electric powered ion rocket engines. <br />

 

[cuddlyrocket]

As has often been noted, NASA should not be doing stuff the private sector is ready and able to do. As the private sector seems willing and able to carry out a solar-sail demonstrator mission, NASA should leave them to it.

 

[yurkin]

I’m not sure if there’s a proposal but I think a solar sail mission would make a great discovery class mission. For 240 million you could build an impressive solar sail and get a working rocket.<br /><br />On the other hand I think that if it became a public program then it would lose a lot of its charm.

 

[ehs40]

i think it is a good idea to launch the solar sail on the shuttle, it would make it up there for sure because of nasa's record of successful launches, and if that sail were to weigh only 90lbs nasa could find some extra space for it