October 24, 2017
What is an Electric Sail? Another Exotic Way to Explore the Solar System
We’re all familiar with the idea of solar sails to explore the Solar System, using the light pressure from the Sun. But there’s another propulsion system that could harness the power of the Sun, electric sails, and it’s a pretty exciting idea.
What is an Electric Sail? Another Exotic Way to Explore the Solar System (YouTube)
Comments (2)
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Ken Lapre · October 24, 2017
Hi Fraser, what type of support system would 50 spacecraft need? It seems it would get pretty complicated trying to control which asteroid each one will visit.
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Fraser Cain · October 24, 2017
They would program their destinations and trajectories in advance. There'd be no way to communicate with them once they were on their way.