I find I get a little frustrated when I hear news about this spacecraft.
There is actually very little information around and JAXA seems to control all status information very closely. I don't seem to be able to find out any more detailed info from the JAXA/JSPEC site, and say Wiki doesn't even seem to know much about it. …
For example, I have never seen any information about exactly what acceleration figures the sail has produced and Wiki says it was number 3 on the list of 'key technologies' to measure … so has anyone heard what the measured figures are ??
And, to make things even more perplexing, the follow-up project targetting Jupiter and the Trojan Asteroids, is switching to ion engines, as the primary means of propulsion. Does this mean that solar propulsion as a primary means for deep space exploration missions, is a dead duck ?
Co-incidentally, NASA announced this the other day:
First-ever solar sail a 'momentous achievement'
Whilst this quote is slightly out of context, it seems to at least justify my above question …
Quote:
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"We couldn't get out of FASTSAT," says Alhorn. "It was heart-wrenching—yet another failure in the long and troubled history of solar sails."
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As far as strategies are concerned, I feel that solar sail research for deep space spacecraft propulsion, should fall way down the priorities list for funding, unless they can demonstrate some substantial benefits in terms of peak velocities/acceleration.
After all, isn't the primary purpose of deep space spacecraft propulsion, to reduce the flying time over the vast distances ? How can solar sailing ever get us closer to light-speed ?
Comments welcome.
Cheers