3 ms·
Those forces are actually pretty well behaved and can be readily measured and accounted for. Also, light sails have a order of magnitude less power, and the Pio
by Sanddancer 9y ago
Those forces are actually pretty well behaved and can be readily measured and accounted for. Also, light sails have a order of magnitude less power, and the Pioneer Anomaly [1] was smaller yet. Space is probably the best place to test something like this.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_anomaly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_anomaly
- simonh 9y agoThe Pioneer Anomaly was only detectable over several decades and a journey to the furthest reaches of the solar system. I'd expect a useful propulsion system to produce effects quite a bit more detectable than that. This effect is about 1/25 the power efficiency of the lowest power ion thrusters. Output at this level over a very long period might be useful at the interplanetary level and maybe at geostationary altitudes, but the low earth orbit environment is actualy highly variable and unpredictable at this scale of effect.
- consp 9y agoWouldn't variations in atmospheric drag negate any possibility of detecting the actual thrust component in leo? The trusts are small, as is the device, but any variation would be extremely hard to detect and measure. Please correct me if my line of thinking is wrong though, I'm not an aerospace engineer.