Escape trajectories of solar sails and general relativity

General relativity can have a significant impact on the long-range escape trajectories of solar sails deployed near the sun. For example, spacetime curvature in the vicinity of the sun can cause a solar sail traveling from about 4 solar radii to 2550 AU to be deflected by on the order of a million k...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics letters. B 2009-11, Vol.681 (5), p.387-390
Main Authors: Kezerashvili, Roman Ya, Vázquez-Poritz, Justin F.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:General relativity can have a significant impact on the long-range escape trajectories of solar sails deployed near the sun. For example, spacetime curvature in the vicinity of the sun can cause a solar sail traveling from about 4 solar radii to 2550 AU to be deflected by on the order of a million kilometers, and should therefore be taken into account at the beginning of the mission. There are a number of smaller general relativistic effects, such as frame dragging due to the slow rotation of the sun which can cause a deflection of more than one thousand kilometers.
ISSN:0370-2693
1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2009.10.064