Multiple near-Earth asteroid rendezvous and sample return using first generation solar sailcraft

Due to their high Delta V-capability, solar sailcraft are especially capable of performing multiple rendezvous and sample return missions to near-Earth asteroids. Even with moderate-performance solar sails of the first generation, challenging scientific missions are feasible. It is shown that a 300 kg spacecraft (including a lander and a sample return capsule), propelled by a (70 m)(2) solar sail with an additional mass of about 110 kg (specific mass 23 g/m(2)), is capable of returning a sample from a near-Earth asteroid to Earth within 10 years from launch. In another scenario, a solar sail of the same size and mass is capable of propelling a 75 kg spacecraft to rendezvous three near-Earth asteroids subsequently within 7.6 years from launch (including about 200 days of operations at each asteroid). A larger solar sail of about (140 m)(2) would even be capable of transporting a spacecraft that returns samples from all three visited near-Earth asteroids to Earth within about 10 years from launch. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.