Gravitationally bound geoengineering dust shade at the inner Lagrange point

This paper presents a novel method of space-based geoengineering which uses the mass of a captured near Earth asteroid to gravitationally anchor a cloud of unprocessed dust in the vicinity of the _L1${\mathrm{L}}_1$ position to reduce the level of solar insolation at Earth. It has subsequently been shown that a cloud contained within the zero-velocity curve of the largest near Earth asteroid, Ganymed, can lead to an insolation reduction of 6.58% on Earth, which is significantly larger than the 1.7% required to offset a 2 °C increase in mean global temperature. The masses of the next largest near Earth asteroids are found to be too small to achieve the required level of insolation reduction, however, they are significant enough to be used as part of a portfolio of geoengineering schemes.     

Solar sail science mission applications and advancement

Solar sailing has long been envisaged as an enabling or disruptive technology. The promise of open-ended missions allows consideration of radically new trajectories and the delivery of spacecraft to previously unreachable or unsustainable observation outposts. A mission catalogue is presented of an extensive range of potential solar sail applications, allowing identification of the key features of missions which are enabled, or significantly enhance, through solar sail propulsion. Through these considerations a solar sail application-pull technology development roadmap is established, using each mission as a technology stepping-stone to the next.