Bernd Dachwald, Wolfgang Seboldt, Bernd Häusler
Performance Requirements for Near-Term Interplanetary Solar Sailcraft Missions
6th International AAAF Symposium on Space Propulsion, 2002, Versailles, France

Abstract

Solar sailcraft provide a wide range of opportunities for high-energy low-cost missions. To date, most mission studies require a rather demanding performance that will not be realized by solar sailcraft of the first generation. However, even with solar sailcraft of moderate performance, scientifically relevant missions are feasible. This is demonstrated with a Near Earth Asteroid sample return mission and various planetary rendezvous missions.

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