TY  - CHAP
A1  - Carzana, Livio
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Noomen, Ron
T1  - Model and trajectory optimization for an ideal laser-enhanced solar sail
T2  - 68th International Astronautical Congress
N2  - A laser-enhanced solar sail is a solar sail that is not solely propelled by solar radiation but additionally by a laser beam that illuminates the sail. This way, the propulsive acceleration of the sail results from the combined action of the solar and the laser radiation pressure onto the sail. The potential source of the laser beam is a laser satellite that coverts solar power (in the inner solar system) or nuclear power (in the outer solar system) into laser power. Such a laser satellite (or many of them) can orbit anywhere in the solar system and its optimal orbit (or their optimal orbits) for a given mission is a subject for future research. This contribution provides the model for an ideal laser-enhanced solar sail and investigates how a laser can enhance the thrusting capability of such a sail. The term ”ideal” means that the solar sail is assumed to be perfectly reflecting and that the laser beam is assumed to have a constant areal power density over the whole sail area. Since a laser beam has a limited divergence, it can provide radiation pressure at much larger solar distances and increase the radiation pressure force into the desired direction. Therefore, laser-enhanced solar sails may make missions feasible, that would otherwise have prohibitively long flight times, e.g. rendezvous missions in the outer solar system. This contribution will also analyze exemplary mission scenarios and present optimial trajectories without laying too much emphasis on the design and operations of the laser satellites. If the mission studies conclude that laser-enhanced solar sails would have advantages with respect to ”traditional” solar sails, a detailed study of the laser satellites and the whole system architecture would be the second next step
Y1  - 2017
N1  - 68th International Astronautical Congress: Unlocking Imagination, Fostering Innovation and Strengthening Security, IAC 2017, 2017-09-25 → 2017-09-29, Adelaide, Australia
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mikucki, Jill Ann
A1  - Schuler, C. G.
A1  - Digel, Ilya
A1  - Kowalski, Julia
A1  - Tuttle, M. J.
A1  - Chua, Michelle
A1  - Davis, R.
A1  - Purcell, Alicia
A1  - Ghosh, D.
A1  - Francke, G.
A1  - Feldmann, M.
A1  - Espe, C.
A1  - Heinen, Dirk
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Clemens, Joachim
A1  - Lyons, W. B.
A1  - Tulaczyk, S.
T1  - Field-Based planetary protection operations for melt probes: validation of clean access into the blood falls, antarctica, englacial ecosystem
JF  - Astrobiology
N2  - Subglacial environments on Earth offer important analogs to Ocean World targets in our solar system. These unique microbial ecosystems remain understudied due to the challenges of access through thick glacial ice (tens to hundreds of meters). Additionally, sub-ice collections must be conducted in a clean manner to ensure sample integrity for downstream microbiological and geochemical analyses. We describe the field-based cleaning of a melt probe that was used to collect brine samples from within a glacier conduit at Blood Falls, Antarctica, for geomicrobiological studies. We used a thermoelectric melting probe called the IceMole that was designed to be minimally invasive in that the logistical requirements in support of drilling operations were small and the probe could be cleaned, even in a remote field setting, so as to minimize potential contamination. In our study, the exterior bioburden on the IceMole was reduced to levels measured in most clean rooms, and below that of the ice surrounding our sampling target. Potential microbial contaminants were identified during the cleaning process; however, very few were detected in the final englacial sample collected with the IceMole and were present in extremely low abundances (∼0.063% of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences). This cleaning protocol can help minimize contamination when working in remote field locations, support microbiological sampling of terrestrial subglacial environments using melting probes, and help inform planetary protection challenges for Ocean World analog mission concepts.
Y1  - 2023
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2021.0102
SN  - 1557-8070 (online)
SN  - 153-1074 (print)
VL  - 23
IS  - 11
SP  - 1165
EP  - 1178
PB  - Liebert
CY  - New York, NY
ER  -