Influence of electric charge on surface of a solar sail on dy-namics of the sail which moves along Tsander’s trajectories

Abstract

Abstract The application of a solar sail spacecrafts for a realization of distant flights into a space is actively discussed. However, all bodies in space plasma get electric charge which depends on density and temperature of plasma, a stream of sunlight and electro-physical characteristics of a body. But till now not enough attention has been given a problem of influence of the charging of a solar sail on its dynamics and durability characteristics. The charging of thin films, such as a solar sail has a number of features. Most important of them are: 1) a surface is bilateral and not closed, 2) partial permeability of a film for the charged particles of a space environment. In this work there are the results of calculations of electric charge density on the surface of the solar sail in the space between orbits of the Earth and Jupiter and an estimate of influence of electric charge of a sail on dynamics of solar sail spacecrafts which moves along elliptic Tsander’s a trajectory. The problem about deflection determination is reduced to integration of one-dimensional problem of the motion of a body with variable acceleration. The obtained estimates of the influence of an electric charge induced on the surfaces of the solar sail on the motion of a space vehicle during interplanetary flights along the orbits mentioned above have shown that the influence is small.