Re: The Magnetic Particle Plume Solar Sail Concept ?

From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Thu Jan 10 2002 - 22:46:17 MST


I believe this was the University of Washington prof (Winglee?) who believed
and got a grant to develop a prototype of a small probe that would generate
an em field around it, and react against electrons and protons thrown off by
the sun.

<<Amara, I believe I read somewhere a few years ago -- less than five, but
probably more than one -- about using magnetic fields to sail on the
solar wind -- as opposed to the typical solar sail concept which relies
on photonic pressure. The beauty of this concept was that you didn't
have to assemble a sail, but could have a much smaller device that
created the magnetic field which the charged particles from the sun
would react to. I'm not sure if this is what the abstract is talking
about, but it's the closest my feeble mind can come to such sublime
notions.

My two cents!

Relurking!

Daniel Ust
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/ >>



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