Nanoparticles in solar sail materials

Solar sailing is a spacecraft propulsion mean exploiting the radiation pressure of sunlight. This concept is undergoing a regain of interest from the space agencies around the world partly driven by the development of manufacturing technologies. Typically, tens of thousands of square meters of sail materials are required to propel a spacecraft. In its most common proposed embodiment, the sail material is constituted of a thin polymer foil coated with a reflective layer on the front side and eventually an emissive layer on the back side. The photons momentum is transferred to the sail upon reflection and its thermal balance is governed by radiative processes (absorption over the solar spectrum and reemission of thermal infrared radiation). The impact of nanoparticles inclusion in the polymer foil on the sail performance will be evaluated for operation in the inner solar system. The aspects of passive thermal regulation and resistance of the polymer to UV radiation will be addressed within the framework of optical calculations based on effective media approximations. Copyright ©2010 by the International Astronautical Federation. All rights reserved.