[Interview+] Two Football Fields of Solar Sail in One Rocket | NIAC 2026
BONUS PART STARTS AT 25:44
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube https://youtu.be/B8xbSUstIhA
🟣 Guest: Dr. Artur Davoyan https://samueli.ucla.edu/people/artur-davoyan/
Solar sails are great. It's a propulsion method that doesn't require carrying fuel. But the need to be really big to be efficient. How do you fold them on Earth and unfold in space? What's a reliable way to do that? NASA recently awarded a NIAC grant specifically for that.
📜 Coilable Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/coilable-stacked-solar-sails-for-very-high-delta-v-missions/
👉 All 2026 NIAC Selections https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/
00:00 Intro
01:31 Solar sail as a propulsion method
25:44 Alternative propulsion methods
38:38 Current obsessions
44:54 Final thoughts
Comments (4)
Ths is truly interesting 🤔 and i can't wait to learn more on this subject.
Love this interview! Thanks again Fraser. One question though with respect to reaching the gravitational lense using a solar sail and that's how would you be able to decelerate to achieve the scientific goal?
Hollow inflatable booms extended by gas pressure, of a material which hardens In the vacuum.
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