Electric solar wind sail

The electric solar wind sail is a type of solar sail invented by Pekka Janhunen from FMI. It has little in common with the solar sail design externally, because the sails are substituted with straigthened conducting tethers (wires) which are placed radially around the host ship. The wires are electrically charged and thus an electric field is created around the wires. The electric field of the wires extends a few dozen metres into the surrounding solar wind plasma.

Because the solar wind electrons react on the electric field similarly as on a concrete solar wind sail, the function radius of the wires is based on the electric field that is generated around the wire rather than the actual wire itself. This fact also makes it possible to maneuver a ship with electric solar wind sail by regulating the electric charge of the wires. A full-sized functioning electric solar wind sail would have 50-100 straightened wires with a length of about 20 km each.

References

• A web-page about the electric solar wind sail by Pekka Janhunen. Retrieved on 2008-04-18..

External links

• An article about the electric solar wind sail by Sciencedaily. Retrieved on 2008-04-18..
• The homepage of Pekka Janhunen in FMI. Retrieved on 2008-04-18..