Search results for "Solar sail"

Periodic Motion for an Imperfect Solar Sail Near an Asteroid

2014

In this paper we consider the Hill 3-body problem with the extra effect of the solar radiation pressure as a model for the motion of a solar sail close to an asteroid. To model the sail’s acceleration, we include both reflectivity and absorption of the sail’s material. We describe the most relevant dynamical properties of the system for different reflectivity and absorption coefficients as well as different fixed sail orientations. We show families of periodic orbits, describe how they relate to the parameters of the sail and discuss their stability.