39,327
edits
Solar Sail: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (remove unneccessary quote box template) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 11:
A close cousin is the magnetic sail, a system that uses a huge conductor (kilometers of superconducting wire or a cloud of ionized gas) and a magnetic field to steal kinetic energy from passing solar wind. Since the charged particles streaming from the sun are more massive than photons, this system delivers more thrust, but it requires input energy, and isn't as visually interesting since the "sail" is invisible.
For interstellar voyages, the ship is usually propelled by a giant [[Frickin' Laser Beams|laser cannon]] in space shooting at the sail.
Common in [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|hard science fiction]], or as [[Techno Babble]] for [[Space Sailing]] starships.
{{examples
== Film ==
* The ''Venture Star'' in ''[[Avatar (Film)|Avatar]]'' uses a solar sail to accelerate to its destination several lightyears away. A laser in the solar system provides thrust for the sail to get up to 70% lightspeed. However, the ship uses an antimatter rocket to slow down at its destination.
Line 24:
* A derelict alien-built solar sail vessel appears in ''Decency'' by [[Robert Reed]]. The sail is wider than the Moon, and is punctured from impacts with stray atoms in space. When it impacts with the Earth, all of nothing happens because the sail is so thin.
* The arrival of an alien solar sail vessel in a human colonized system in ''[[The Mote in Gods Eye]]'' starts off the plot.
* ''The Wind from the Sun'' by [[Arthur C. Clarke (Creator)]] is about an international race by solar sailing ships from the Earth to the Moon, patterned on America's Cup style yacht racing.
== [[Role Playing Games]] ==
| |||