1. 1 Possibilities for Traveling to Mars Charles C. Renn

2. 2 Topics of Interest Solar Sails Plasma Sails Laser Lightcraft

3. 3 Solar Sails: History - 1600’s Johannes Kelper -1920’s Russian scientists - 1958 1 st scientific paper (Garwin, Defense Department consultant with IBM) -1960 1 st Master Thesis (Villers, MIT) & 1 st class offered @ UCLA -1978 NASA proposal for a rendezvous with Halley’s comet

4. 4 How Does It Work? -general concepts of photons transferring momentum -S.S. is launched (Volna) into space and deploys highly reflective sails -Sails reflect photons from sunlight, gradually accelerating sails (NOT FROM SOLAR WINDS) -F(sunlight) = 1e3 to 1e5 * F(solar wind) -Individual blades rotate to change velocity

5. 5 Materials -Cosmos-1 (launch early ’04, funded by The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios) – 5-micron thin aluminized Mylar –8 -15m blades, total area = 600m^2 –Solar powered electronics - GPS, cameras, sun sensors

6. 6 Uses -Mars Transportation? – one way trip = 400 days, slow increasing acceleration -Advantages – rendezvous with comets, provide roundtrip transportation of heavy payloads with ease -Ideal for large masses over great distances -Interstellar Travel? – lasers instead of photons -Cosmos-1 animationanimation

7. 7 Plasma Sails Concept -Use of magnetosphere to reflect solar wind to apply force to space craft,. Ex heliopause & interstellar medium -Magnetic cloud to be 15-20 km radius (similar to ion gyro- radius) -Accelerate 70-140 kg payload to 50-80 km/s

8. 8 Components -magnetic field on spacecraft ~ 700G -Plasma injected from spacecraft to inflate magnetic field -Power source to power magnetic field and plasma

9. 9 Plasma Pressure -Helium or Argon heated by power source, becomes plasma -Injected into magnetic field supported by solenoid coils on spacecraft -Pressure causes both the plasma and magnetic field to expand -Potentially expands to needed 15- 20 km

10. 10 Uses -Mars – possibility once technology develops, provide low cost to Mars orbital -Heliosphere – analyze interactions with the interstellar medium (10 - yr trip)

11. 11 Laser Lightcraft: History -1970’s US Missile Defense System – used high powered lasers -1987 Myrabo develops 1 st lightcraft -1997 1 st successful flight with no onboard engine -2000 lightcraft flies 233ft

12. 12 How It Works -Carbon dioxide laser – ground based laser, rapidly pulsed, creating thrust -Parabolic mirror – focuses beam into ring shaped absorption chamber - (heats air to 5 times T(sun)) -Absorption chamber – inlet air directed to chamber, air then heated by beam, expands, propels lightcraft -Onboard Hydrogen – used when atm. is too thin to provide enough air -Lightcraft stabilizes by spinning rapidly.rapidly -Ex - similar to how a football spins rapidly when thrown with accuracy

13. 13 Material -the model – aircraft-grade aluminum -Full size – silicon carbide

14. 14 Uses -Mars – possibility -Satellite launch services -Parcel delivery -Advantages - high thrust, simplicity, reliability (few moving parts) -Limits – power available, absorption/distortion through atm.

15. 15 Conclusion -Technology -Funding -Creativity