2021/12/27 by Olivia Borgue, Andreas M. Hein, Borgue, Olivia +1
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Planetary Science and Exploration #Space Physics (physics.space-ph) #Spacecraft Design and Technology #Spacecraft Dynamics and Control #physics.space-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2112.13652
An error was found in equation 6 used for calculating the normal component of the radiation pressure (Fn). The calculations were performed using the wrong sign on the second term of the equation.We used a negative sign, applicable to transmissive gratings, but as we have included an aluminium coating on the back of the grating, it is no longer transmissive, and a positive sign should be used
openalex publication_date 2021/12/27 · arxiv created 2022/04/26 · arxiv updated 2022/04/27 · openalex created_date 2022/05/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Limiting climate change to within the 2 °C limit requires net zero emissions of CO2 by 2050. However, the window of opportunity is closing fast. Geoengineering as the intentional and large-scale manipulation of the environment and in particular the climate is increasingly discussed as a complement to ongoing mitigation efforts. As a particular geoengineering approach, space-based geoengineering blocks or dissipates a fraction of incoming sunlight via many occulting membranes, located close to the Sun-Earth Lagrange 1 point. However, the mass of the proposed sunshades, around 107-108 tons, and their associated cost render them about 103 times more costly than terrestrial alternatives. In this article, we propose a novel sunshade concept, which is between 102 to 103 times lighter than the lightest existing sunshade concepts. This is achieved via a net zero-radiation pressure design, based on the use of diffractive metamaterials, removing one of the major constraints to reducing sunshade mass. The whole sunshade system has a total mass of approximately 6.2 × 105 tons and its deployment requires between 102 to 103 annual launches during a ten-year period. The achieved cost reduction might render space-based geoengineering competitive to terrestrial geoengineering approaches.