Fwd: Plasma spin sail?
tony...@myinternetuk.com
From: Stephen Goodfellow <gfe...@wwnet.net>
Reply-To: ste...@goodfelloweb.com
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Subject: Plasma spin sail?
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It was with great interest that I read of Dr. Robert Winglee's idea of
creating a plasma sail.
Winglee's M2P2 concept would use the solar wind to push on a small
imitation of the Earth's magnetosphere and accelerate the spacecraft
to
overtake the Pioneers and Voyagers and become the first manmade object
to leave the solar system. M2P2 would generate a magnetic field and
then
inject plasma (ionized gas) that would drag the magnetic field lines
out
and form a plasma bubble 30 to 60 km (18-36 mi) in diameter.
Some experts think it would be difficult to steer a magnetically
driven
craft and that consequently the system might not be well suited for a
long term mission that requires many changes in direction.(Science
News,
09/18/99)
The following is just a quick sketch; I would not be surprised if
others
had not already thought of the following idea. If so, I apologize in
advance for being a bore:
I have placed the idea with sketches on a web page for convenience
sake:
http://goodfelloweb.com/spinsail/index.html
...But for those who have no browser:
Picture a space craft in which the exterior body can remain in fixed
positions, so as to maintain radio contact with Earth, etc.
Inside the craft is a the magnetic field generator and plasma
container
mounted on a gyroscope, spinning rapidly.
The magnetic field is slaved to the generator and rotates at the same
speed as the gyroscope.
Assuming space craft's magnetic filed to be side-on to the sun, solar
wind particles now hit one side of the magnetic field with a greater
velocity that the other, causing the field - and space craft to move
at
a tangent, rather than a straight line.
By moving the axis of the space craft, the direction can be changed.
Needless to say, such control will be limited, the craft always
leading
away from the Sun, much like a skydiver can control the path of his
fall, although he will continue to fall to Earth. Still, the steering
mechanism would be far from insignificant.
A side effect of this approach would be a cascade of ions towards the
north and south poles of the magnetic generator.
The spinning magnetic field would act much the same way as Earth's
magnetosphere in that charged particles would follow the magnetic
field
lines into the North and South poles of the generator, thereby
charging
its batteries. In other words, if one were to allow for charging and
storage, the craft would have an extended power supply.
It occurs to me that even after the craft leaves the solar heliopause,
the speed through interstellar space may be such that trapped ions may
continue to charge the space craft batteries in this fashion.
Comments?
--
Goodfellow's Gate - Est. 1994
http://goodfelloweb.com