Sweden approves plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

Re:Sweden approves plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k ... by tomjakubowski on Thursday January 27, 2022 @02:30PM (#30105086)

Definitely a stupid question, because I actually have no idea how they work: can a solar sail be "tacked" so as to decelerate towards the sun, like a sailboat sailing into the wind?

(Setting aside the risky problem of getting this waste off earth and into space to begin with)

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Re:Sweden approves plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k ... by blackboxlogic on Thursday January 27, 2022 @04:38PM (#30107114)

Tacking works because boats have a second "sail" interacting with a second fluid moving differently than the wind (the keel is in the water). There's no second thing to push against in space.

If you "tack" your solar sail, you'll spin.

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Re:Sweden approves plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k ... by hutzlibu on Thursday January 27, 2022 @03:00PM (#30105561)

I have not done any calculations now, but given how small the solar wind is in drag, it would have to be a very, very big sail.

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