A Study of Possible Solar Sail Applications for Mars Missions

A study was performed in conjunction with the In Space Technology Investment Area of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to investigate potential applications of solar sails to Mars missions. While solar sails have been proposed as possible candidates for several missions, including Geostorm and a Polar Observer mission, Mars has often been overlooked as a potential destination. It was found that solar sails may have potential in Mars observation missions with smaller payloads. Sail aerocapture maneuvers also show an improvement in payload delivery capability. This study has shown that solar sail spacecraft rival chemical interplanetary probes to Mars and may have applications in future Mars exploration.