The unmanned Zephyr flew 58,555 feet in the air for 33 hrs. using power from solar panels on its wings. The Zephyr is a British project tested in the New Mexico, USA high desert as reported from London.
2007-09-10 06:00:37 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
To clarify: Zephyr was a plane. It flew very high, but will fly no higher than 12 miles.
I think you're talking about solar sails - Giant, thin sails tethered to a space craft, using the sun's light for propulsion. And, while I think they WILL be used in space - probably not for space travel. At least, not MANNED travel.
I think they're greatest value might be in attaching giant solar sails to asteroids that present a threat to Earth. This would change their orbit, very slightly over years, but enough to make an Earth-impacting asteroid miss.
2007-09-10 07:27:16 · answer #1 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Space probes usually use solar panels as their main power source, not only because the sun provides light constantly, but also because they wear out very slowly compared to other power sources. They generally only lose a few percent of their effectiveness a year.
Even for the far reaches of the solar system effective solar power seems feasible.
Interstellar travel would be another matter though.
2007-09-10 06:18:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but they'd need to be very large and they would need to have improved efficiency over those we have today.
The space station is powered by solar panels, so it's not like it's an ignored technology.
2007-09-10 06:06:54 · answer #3 · answered by Brian L 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Solar power for on borad controls and environmental and solar sails to propel the space craft perhaps...
2007-09-11 07:31:15 · answer #4 · answered by TfourL 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dawn will use a solar powered ion engine to do just that:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/
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2007-09-10 06:16:14 · answer #5 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋