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Technology / Re: Altering orbits using earth's magnetic field or generated fields from earth?
« on: 27/05/2020 23:43:59 »Quote from: Petrochemicals
How about the radiation fields ?The Sun's radiation has been used experimentally to move spacecraft, with a solar sail:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail
Cosmic rays carry a massive momentum for nucleus. However, they arrive randomly from all directions, so they are not very useful for controlled propulsion.
LEO (Low Earth Orbit) is shielded from most of the Sun's Solar wind by the Earth's magnetosphere. What remains is mostly low-density charged particles spiraling down the Earth's magnetic field lines towards the north & south magnetic poles. Since this doesn't provide a very consistent thrust to a satellite in orbit, it's hard to see how to use this for propulsion.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere#Earth's_magnetosphere
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