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− | Back to [[Main Page]] > [[Solar Sail Design]]
| + | #REDIRECT [[:Category:Spin Stabilized]] |
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− | Spinning a solar sail pulls the sail material out tight and flat so it doesn't collapse when sunlight pushes on it.
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− | This is called ''centripetal acceleration'', and is the same effect that prevents water from flowing out of a bucket that is being swung in a circle.
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− | Because the sail material itself is very lightweight, it needs to be reinforced with tension lines to carry most of the loads caused by spinning.
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− | This results in a sail that needs very little heavy structure, because tension lines are much lighter than the booms used in [[Three-Axis Stabilized]] solar sails.
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− | Thus, spinning sails have potential for being lighter and faster.
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− | Two common types of spinning sail are:
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− | *[[Circular Sail]]
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− | *[[Heliogyro]]
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− | [[Category:Support Structure]]
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