Unbelievable! The revolutionary German metamaterial takes only 26 days to fly to Mars, and the speed is beyond your imagination!

Tech 2023-10-20 12:02:45 Source: Network

26 days to Mars, dare you imagine? Musk is about to cry and faint on the toilet because the starship he is building will take more than six months to fly to Mars, but it has burned over three billion dollars and has not yet reached the sky. Today we are going to talk about a shiny, exciting black technology - revolutionary all carbon aerogel metamaterial solar sail!All carbon air gel makes you fly higher and farther!First, let's take a look at this amazing all carbon aerogel

26 days to Mars, dare you imagine? Musk is about to cry and faint on the toilet because the starship he is building will take more than six months to fly to Mars, but it has burned over three billion dollars and has not yet reached the sky. Today we are going to talk about a shiny, exciting black technology - revolutionary all carbon aerogel metamaterial solar sail!

All carbon air gel makes you fly higher and farther!

First, let's take a look at this amazing all carbon aerogel. The density of this metamaterial is as low as 0.18 kilograms per cubic meter, which is as light as a feather compared to traditional solar sail materials. For example, compared with the traditional metallized polyester film, the density of all carbon aerogel is four orders of magnitude smaller. This means that the thrust generated by solar panels will be greater and the speed will be faster. The mechanical properties of all carbon aerogel are also impressive, which makes it an ideal material for space exploration.

Head straight to Mars and get it done in 26 days!

This research comes from Max Planck Institute of Solar System and Dresden University of Technology in Germany. Scientists have carried out a series of simulation experiments. The maximum mass of the simulated solar sail spacecraft is 1 kg, of which 720 g is aerogel, and the expanded area is up to 104 square meters.

In the simulation, scientists demonstrated the different effects of two types of solar sail trajectories: one is the direct outward transfer method, and the other is the inward transfer method.

What is the direct outward transfer method? Simply put, it is like a solar sail unfolding in the polar orbit of Earth, just like you holding a giant umbrella, the sun sending you on your way, all the way to Mars at lightning speed. The amazing thing about this method is that the solar sail spacecraft can reach Mars in just 26 days, and the speed is amazing!

In contrast, the inward transfer law takes 126 days to reach Mars, as it requires the solar sail spacecraft to be launched using a traditional rocket to a distance of 0.6 astronomical units from the sun, and then the solar sail is deployed and flies towards Mars. This alone takes 103 days. But this method can accelerate the solar sail to a faster speed because it is closer to the sun.

This leads us to go further into interstellar space, such as the heliosphere where two Voyager spacecraft have already flown out. The outward transfer law takes 5.3 years, and the inward transfer law only takes 4.2 years. Although the inward transfer method requires a journey of 103 days before departure, the speed of reaching the heliosphere is faster due to the solar sail reaching its maximum speed at 300 days, while the outward transfer method takes two years.

This is like a fighter jet taking off on an aircraft carrier. The outward transfer method is for the fighter jet to take off directly from the deck, while the inward transfer method is like a catapult takeoff, pulling the sail closer to the sun and popping out with a whoosh, instantly increasing its speed.

The Future of Sun Sails

What is the principle of a solar sail? They rely on the propulsion of photons or beams of light from the sun, just like sailing ships rely on the wind to navigate. The difference is that the "sail" of this solar sail is made of carbon aerogel, which is lightweight and efficient.

The key value of solar sail propulsion technology lies in speed. Although it can only carry very small payloads, its potential for quickly transporting small payloads (below kilograms) throughout the entire solar system is infinite. Traditional chemical propulsion can send hundreds of tons of payload into low Earth orbit, but compared to it, solar sails have a faster speed. Therefore, the new prospects of solar sail technology will open up new possibilities for future space exploration.

However, this technology, more accurately, still stays on PPT. This research is just a simulation, and how to make this aerogel into a solar sail and deploy it into space is still a problem. And even if these problems are solved, the initial stage may only be able to send extremely small payloads to Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and other places, and the ability to conduct scientific exploration may be extremely limited.

Of course, the advantage of this technology is that once broken through, it can be mass-produced and easily deployed in orbit. It can fly like a swarm to destinations such as Mars, and even spread throughout every corner of the solar system, forming a huge network for monitoring the entire solar system. At that time, what happened in any corner of the solar system couldn't escape our attention.

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