"The Wind from the Sun" by Arthur Clarke

[a425couple]

"The Wind from the Sun" is the name of a book by Arthur Clarke
that is a collection of all 18 short stories that Clarke wrote between
1961 and Feb. 1972.
IMHO, a quite good collection (I'll tell about a few.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_from_the_Sun
https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Sun-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/0575600527
Current prices are 1 cent + 3.99 S&H.
Review = "A Clarke fan will want to own this book."
"Several little twists in the stories. Innovative ideas that were ahead of
his time."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149056.The_Wind_From_the_Sun

"The Wind from the Sun"
"Back cover teaser: "IN SPACE-Space-sailing anyone? Come ride the
sun's winds in the interstellar sailing contest of the century!" Problems
arise
for the competitors during this race to the moon."

It is also (in this book) the name of what I considered a very
interesting and pleasant short story (also named elsewhere
as 'Sunjammer')
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunjammer
"Algis Budrys praised the story as an example of "good, solid science
fiction .
. . the kind of story which justifies the existence of science fiction as a
genre."

I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
But, it is obviously correct and possible and described here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Again, IMHO, this is a great story.

[p***@hotmail.com]

Post by a425couple
"The Wind from the Sun" is the name of a book by Arthur Clarke
that is a collection of all 18 short stories that Clarke wrote between
1961 and Feb. 1972.
IMHO, a quite good collection (I'll tell about a few.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_from_the_Sun
https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Sun-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/0575600527
Current prices are 1 cent + 3.99 S&H.
Review = "A Clarke fan will want to own this book."
"Several little twists in the stories. Innovative ideas that were ahead of
his time."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149056.The_Wind_From_the_Sun
"The Wind from the Sun"
"Back cover teaser: "IN SPACE-Space-sailing anyone? Come ride the
sun's winds in the interstellar sailing contest of the century!" Problems
arise
for the competitors during this race to the moon."
It is also (in this book) the name of what I considered a very
interesting and pleasant short story (also named elsewhere
as 'Sunjammer')
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunjammer
"Algis Budrys praised the story as an example of "good, solid science
fiction .
. . the kind of story which justifies the existence of science fiction as a
genre."
I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail
Again, IMHO, this is a great story.

It was first published in _Boy's Life_ as the cover story:

Loading Image...

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

[a425couple]

I should have also sent this original post to the astronomy
group, where there is a chance someone might be interested.

Post by p***@hotmail.com

Post by a425couple
"The Wind from the Sun" is the name of a book by Arthur Clarke
that is a collection of all 18 short stories that Clarke wrote between
1961 and Feb. 1972.
IMHO, a quite good collection (I'll tell about a few.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_from_the_Sun
https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Sun-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/0575600527
Current prices are 1 cent + 3.99 S&H.
Review = "A Clarke fan will want to own this book."
"Several little twists in the stories. Innovative ideas that were ahead of
his time."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149056.The_Wind_From_the_Sun
"The Wind from the Sun"
"Back cover teaser: "IN SPACE-Space-sailing anyone? Come ride the
sun's winds in the interstellar sailing contest of the century!" Problems
arise
for the competitors during this race to the moon."
It is also (in this book) the name of what I considered a very
interesting and pleasant short story (also named elsewhere
as 'Sunjammer')
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunjammer
"Algis Budrys praised the story as an example of "good, solid science
fiction .
. . the kind of story which justifies the existence of science fiction as a
genre."
I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail
Again, IMHO, this is a great story.

https://i2.wp.com/bookzone.boyslife.org/files/2015/05/bl.jpg
Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

Yes. As I was preparing the original post, I did look at
the Google Images, and saw that image of the space vessel,
and two other drawings done of the same.
Certainly different that what I'd imagined in my mind.
But very workable from Clarke's words (although with the
'greenhouse', in sunlight, might get hard to sleep!).

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by a425couple
"The Wind from the Sun" is the name of a book by Arthur Clarke
that is a collection of all 18 short stories that Clarke wrote between
1961 and Feb. 1972.
IMHO, a quite good collection (I'll tell about a few.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_from_the_Sun
https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Sun-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/0575600527
Current prices are 1 cent + 3.99 S&H.
Review = "A Clarke fan will want to own this book."
"Several little twists in the stories. Innovative ideas that were ahead of
his time."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149056.The_Wind_From_the_Sun
"The Wind from the Sun"
"Back cover teaser: "IN SPACE-Space-sailing anyone? Come ride the
sun's winds in the interstellar sailing contest of the century!" Problems
arise
for the competitors during this race to the moon."
It is also (in this book) the name of what I considered a very
interesting and pleasant short story (also named elsewhere
as 'Sunjammer')
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunjammer
"Algis Budrys praised the story as an example of "good, solid science
fiction .
. . the kind of story which justifies the existence of science fiction as a
genre."
I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail
Again, IMHO, this is a great story.

To be very picky, a space race to the moon wouldn't
usually be called "interstellar".

Well - depending where you start from. The Pleiades? (Appropriately, he said, with the
imprint of Wikipedia on his brow, AIDEPIKIW.)

Otherwise, I would expect Clarke to make it a minor
story point, mocking the race commentator who said it.

[Greg Goss]

Post by a425couple
It is also (in this book) the name of what I considered a very
interesting and pleasant short story (also named elsewhere
as 'Sunjammer')
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunjammer

Somewhere he says that he renamed the story to avoid stepping on
someone else who used the same title at the same time.

[Robert Woodward]

Post by Greg Goss

Post by a425couple
It is also (in this book) the name of what I considered a very
interesting and pleasant short story (also named elsewhere
as 'Sunjammer')
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunjammer

Somewhere he says that he renamed the story to avoid stepping on
someone else who used the same title at the same time.

Poul Anderson's "Sunjammer" appeared in April 1964 issue of Analog (as
by Winston P. Sanders), BTW, it had the cover illustration. Clarke's
"Sunjammer" appeared in the March 1964 issue of Boy's Life.

[Carl Fink]

Post by a425couple
I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Changing the angle of the sail changes the angle of thrust.

[Peter Trei]

Post by Carl Fink

Post by a425couple
I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Changing the angle of the sail changes the angle of thrust.

If I understand correctly, you can angle the sail by changing the relative
positions of the center of mass and the center of thrust. I'd also think
you could use reaction wheels to rotate the sail to the correct angle, and
this should work fine so long as no overall rotational inertia is acquired.

A weight on a long wire could also provide something to torque against in
a gravity well.

pt

[a425couple]

Post by Carl Fink

Post by a425couple
I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Changing the angle of the sail changes the angle of thrust.

I'll try a diagram here.
The space 'sailor' in the ship
wants to go to top of page.
The sun is at page right margin at
same line # as space ship.
/ = sail.
. = rigging


/ .
/ .
/ .
/ .
/ . . . . . . .(ship)
sun


Are you (Carl) thinking the sun sailing ship
will be tacking upwards, on the page?

[a425couple]

Please disregard the one before/just done.
I'll try again, the change is in the body of this post.

Post by a425couple

Post by Carl Fink

Post by a425couple
I will admit, I just can not fully comprehend how to maneuver
a vessel moved by the sun's rays, when you do not have
the friction of the hull or a keel in water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Changing the angle of the sail changes the angle of thrust.

I'll try a diagram here.
The space 'sailor' in the ship
wants to go to top of page.
The sun is at page right margin at
same line # as space ship.
/ = sail.
. = rigging
/ .
/ .
/ .
/ .
/ . . . . . . .(ship) sun -->
Are you (Carl) thinking the sun sailing ship
will be tacking upwards, on the page?

[Carl Fink]

Post by a425couple
The sun is at page right margin at
same line # as space ship.
/ = sail.
. = rigging
/ .
/ .
/ .
/ .
/ . . . . . . .(ship) sun -->
Are you (Carl) thinking the sun sailing ship
will be tacking upwards, on the page?

It's complex, because you can tack using solar photons but solar wind
(ironically) is always a vector pointing away from the sun (modulo any
magnetic fields changing the direction of the charged particles). But in
essence, and considering as mentioned crossthread that you're in orbit, not
starting from rest: yes.

[Alrescha]

Post by a425couple
I'll try a diagram here.

Given that the race as described involves vehicles in space, and that
their maneuvers involved multiple orbits, I suspect that trying to
translate that into a traditional two-dimensional sailing diagram is
somewhat pointless.

A.

[a425couple]

Post by Alrescha

Post by a425couple
I'll try a diagram here.

Given that the race as described involves vehicles in space, and that
their maneuvers involved multiple orbits, I suspect that trying to
translate that into a traditional two-dimensional sailing diagram is
somewhat pointless.
A.

Yes, probably.
But there is a chance, that the confusion I'm having problems with,
can be explained enough to me, in just 2 dimensions.