Abstract
The development of Gossamer sail structures for solar sails contributes to a large field of future space applications like thin film solar generators, membrane antennas and drag sails. The focus of this paper is the development of a drag sail based on solar sail technology that could contribute to a reduction of space debris in low Earth orbits. The drag sail design and its connections to solar sail development, a first test on a sounding rocket, as well as the ongoing integration of the drag sail into a triple CubeSat is presented.
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Abbreviations
- μ :
-
Friction coefficient
- b :
-
Width (mm)
- E :
-
Young’s modulus (N/mm2)
- F N :
-
Force normal to the surface (N)
- k c :
-
Local curvature (1/mm)
- k x :
-
Curvature in y direction (1/mm)
- k y :
-
Curvature in x direction (1/mm)
- r m :
-
Middle radius (mm)
- t :
-
Thickness (mm)
- T f :
-
Friction torque (Nmm)
- U :
-
Stored energy (J/mm2)
References
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Institute of High Frequency Technology (IHF), and the Institute of Lightweight Structures (ilb), both of RWTH Aachen University, and the FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences for their support. Furthermore the Space Sailors team would like to thank all the institutes, workshops and companies who made the Space Sailors project feasible by providing and manufacturing the experiment hardware.
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Wolff, N. et al. (2014). Alternative Application of Solar Sail Technology. In: Macdonald, M. (eds) Advances in Solar Sailing. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34907-2_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34907-2_23
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