NOAA solar sail programs

Abstract

This panel will discuss plans and programs for enabling the development of Gossamer Spacecraft, that is, a new class of ultralight spacecraft which encompass: 1) massive solar sails with areal densities of less than a gram per square meter which could be used for low cost propulsion; 2) massive telescopes with apertures having areal densities of less than a kilogram per square meter; 3) very large lightweight solar solar power concentrators, and 4) large antennas. There is interest in such spacecraft in NASA, NOAA and DoD, and there are ongoing technology programs to enable these spacecraft. The challenges are massive. For example, while the limits of the areal density of glass telescopes in space is about 5 kglm2, gossamer telescopes are foreseen with areal densities of 1 kg/m2. To enable such telescopes, solar sails, etc, will require technology development in materials, structures, control, deployment, adaptive systems, high precision metrology, and so on. This panel consists of seven people who manage these technology programs. Each will present a brief description of their program's goals and content, and then discussion will be opened up to all present.