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There is a desire to observe the sun's poles to further deepen ourunderstanding of solar activity. However, because of the large speeds needed toperform out-of-ecliptic plane maneuvers, chemical and electric rocketpropulsion mechanisms have been proven to be costly and impractical, leavingalternative space technology systems like solar sails to be considered forthese applications. In this paper, we study the possibility of using a solarsail as a probe observing the sun. We design and optimize the trajectories ofthe solar sail probe through the surface constraint approach, with theassumption that the sail moves on a displaced spherical surface. We firstreview the surface constraint approach, focusing on its important assumptionsand limitations. Then, we solve and obtain a family of radial and azimuthaltrajectory equations by choosing the correct constraint equation. Wecharacterize the trajectories based on the functional dependence of the sail'sorientation with the polar angle. Finally, we determine the trajectories of theprobe that will give us the minimum flight time. Results show that increasingthe number of mission stages decreases the total flight time, with minimalchanges in the sail's radial and polar velocities. Furthermore, changing thefunctional dependence of the clock angle resets the azimuthal velocity, makingthe sail not reverse its direction and directly approach the sun along thespherical surface.

Trajectory design and optimization of a solar sail sun probe