HELIOVECTOR S4 | Solar Sail Attitude Laboratory

01 / INSTRUMENT VIEW

Photon torque chamber

ORBIT / DRAG TO ROTATE / SCROLL TO ZOOM

FOUR ELECTROCHROMIC QUADRANTSAUTO-STABILISE

SUN VECTOR / INCIDENT LIGHT

PHOTON FORCE

SAIL STRUCTURE

Drag scene to orbit · Scroll to zoom

02 / EXPERIMENT CONTROL

S4.1 / 06

PHYSICAL PARAMETERSA / ENVIRONMENT

Sail span 10 m

Sailcraft mass 18 kg

Distance to Sun 1.00 AU

Base reflectivity 68%

ATTITUDE CONTROLB / FLIGHT

Auto Sun-pointingClosed-loop proportional / rate feedback

Manual yaw trim 0%

Manual pitch trim 0%

Time acceleration 360×

QUADRANT REFLECTIVITYC / ACTUATORS

Q3 / UPPER-LEFT68%

Q4 / UPPER-RIGHT68%

Q1 / LOWER-LEFT68%

Q2 / LOWER-RIGHT68%

Asymmetric reflectivity shifts the centre of photon pressure, generating a steering torque without propellant.