Escape Trajectories of Solar Sails and General Relativity

TL;DR

This paper examines how general relativity influences the escape trajectories of solar sails near the sun, highlighting significant deflections caused by spacetime curvature and other relativistic effects over long distances.

Contribution

It quantifies the impact of general relativistic effects on solar sail trajectories, emphasizing the necessity to include these effects in mission planning near the sun.

Findings

Spacetime curvature causes up to one million km deflection.

Frame dragging can cause over one thousand km deflection.

Relativistic effects are crucial for accurate long-range trajectory predictions.

Abstract

General relativity can have a significant impact on the long-range escape trajectories of solar sails deployed near the sun. Spacetime curvature in the vicinity of the sun can cause a solar sail traveling from 0.01 AU to 2550 AU to be deflected by as much as one million kilometers, and should therefore be taken into account at the beginning of the mission. There are a number of smaller general relativistic effects, such as frame dragging due to the slow rotation of the sun which can cause a deflection of more than one thousand kilometers.