Electric Sail Tether Voltage Multiplier Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The efficiency of electric sails in spacecraft propulsion is limited by the difficulty in increasing tether voltages due to close proximity of tethers near the hub, leading to risks of sparks, arcs, and ion flows, making it challenging to achieve higher thrust without increasing physical dimensions.
Innovation Solution
Moving high voltage generation to the tethers, at least one kilometer away from the spacecraft, using a low-voltage tether connected to a control voltage generator and a voltage multiplier, with a load-bearing insulating member to carry the load, allowing for higher voltages and thrust while keeping control voltages low enough to be managed with semiconductors or relays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high voltage is applied to tethers near the hub to increase effective sail area, then propulsion efficiency improves, but risk of sparks, arcs, and ion flows increases
Solution Approach 1:
The voltage multiplier is extracted from the hub and relocated to the tether itself, positioning it at least one kilometer away from the hub. This separates the high voltage generation function from the hub area, allowing high voltages to be applied to tethers while keeping the hub area safe from sparks and arcs.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrical architecture transitions from a centralized hub-based voltage system to a distributed tether-based voltage system. By moving the voltage multiplier along the tether dimension, the patent creates a one-dimensional extension of the electrical system that resolves the spatial conflict between high voltage application and hub safety.
2Productivity
If tether voltage is increased to improve efficiency, then effective area of the sail increases, but controlling high voltages becomes difficult in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The voltage multiplier is extracted from the confined hub space and relocated to the tether environment. This allows high voltages to be generated and controlled in a spacious environment along the tether, where there is sufficient clearance for high voltage components and where voltage control is not constrained by the limited space around the hub.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different voltage levels to different parts of the system: low control voltages are maintained at the hub for switching and control functions, while high voltages are generated locally at the tether for propulsion. This local differentiation of voltage qualities allows each part to operate in its optimal voltage range.
3Force
If physical dimensions of the sail are increased to improve thrust, then effective area increases, but device complexity and mass increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of changing the physical dimensions (area) of the sail to increase thrust, the patent changes the electrical parameter (voltage) of the tethers. By increasing tether voltage, the effective area of the electric sail increases without physically enlarging the structure, thereby increasing thrust while maintaining the same physical dimensions and reducing system complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables higher thrust with reduced risk of sparks and entanglement, allowing for cost-effective and efficient propulsion within the solar system, enabling applications such as lunar colonization and He-3 mining, and providing better tolerance against micrometeors.
Implementation Method 1
Solar sail designs frequently use thin foil... electric sail consists of tethers arranged radially from a central, rotating hub... use solar wind as a source of thrust
Implementation Method 2
a load-bearing insulating member carrying load from the high voltage tether to the support structure of the spacecraft
Data Source
AI summary
The effective area of an electric sail depends on the voltage applied to tethers. The use of higher voltages is made possible by moving voltage multipliers to tethers, perhaps 100 meters out from the body of the spacecraft.