Gossamer Spacecraft: Membrane and Inflatable Structures Technology for Space Applications - edited by Christopher H. M. Jenkins.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., Reston, Virginia, 2001.
Volume 191 of Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Editor-in-Chief Paul Zarchan.
ISBN: 1-56347-403-4
This book discusses various aspects of gossamer and inflatable spacecraft technology, with contributions by many different authors.
Chapter 19 "Gossamer Sailcraft Technology" by Moktar Salama, Colin McInnes, and Patricia Mulligan, covers solar sails.
Chapter 22 "Advanced Concepts" by Artur Chmielewski discusses solar sails and large, gossamer space observatories.
Mechanics of Spaceflight Low-Thrust - by G. L. Grodzovskii, Yu. N. Ivanov, and V. V. Tokarev.
Translated by A. Baruch.
Israel program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 1969.
NASA Technical Translation F 507.
Includes sections on solving for optimized trajectories for solar sails and radioactive isotope sails.
This section is on pages 315-325.
The Mote in God's Eye - by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Simon and Schuster, New York, 1974.
ISBN: 0-671-21833-6
This is a science fiction story about humanity's first contact with alien intelligence about 1000 years after attaining faster-than-light travel.
The aliens contact humanity by sending a piloted laser sail to an inhabited human world.
Planet of the Apes - by Pierre Boulle.
The Vanguard Press, Inc., New York, 1963.
Library of Congress Card Number: 63-21843
This science fiction story, which is far different from the movie, begins with a fantastically fast solar sail.
A quote from the book describing the sail can be found at U3P.
Project: Solar Sail - Arthur C. Clarke,David Brin, and Jonathan Post.
Penguin Books, 1990.
ISBN: 0-451-45002-7
A collection of essays and short stories about solar sails.
This book was part of a fund-raising effort for the World Space Foundation.
Rocheworld - by Robert L. Forward Rocheworld is the story of a one way human interstellar laser sail exploration program.
The focus of the story is about the first mission, which is sent to Barnard's Star.
This story draws heavily from Forward's work on multi-stage interstellar laser sails.
The sequels to Rocheworld also describe the solar sail.
Solar Sailing: Technology, Dynamics and Mission Applications - by Colin R. McInnes.
Springer-Verlag, London, ISBN 1-85233-102-X, 1999.
296 pages.
This is a very comprehensive book on all aspects of solar sailing.
The first chapter is a borad summary discussing principles, history, practicality, applications, and future direction.
The following chapters go into great depth - both in discussion and mathematics - on light pressure, design (including many historical designs) and steering, orbital mechanics, "non-Keplerian" orbits, mission case studies, and laser-driven sails.
Look at the table of contents and cover for a preview:
Space Sailing - by Jerome Wright.
Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1992.
Library of Congress call number: TL783.9.W75 1992.
ISBN 2-88124-803-9 (hardcover) and ISBN 2-88124-842-X (softcover). Space Sailing was written by Jerome Wright to publish details of the JPL Halley rendezvous study from the 1970s, as well as his own continuing work.
The book discusses a rich variety of solar sail configurations, applications, and considerations to be taken in their design.
Some of the topics discussed are:
Uses for a sail at every body in the solar system (and beyond)
Numerous possible sailing vessel designs
Details of the fabrication and deployment of sail films
Support structure construction
Considerations for solar sail operation in a variety of circumstances
Laser (and microwave) propelled solar sails for interstellar travel
Space Sailing - by Dorothy M. Souza.
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis, 1994.
Library of Congress call number: TL783.9 .568 1994.
ISBN: 0822528509
Provides an overview of solar sailing, from history, to interplanetary missions, to interstellar travel.
Includes many photographs and images.
Listed as juvenile literature, but good for any readership.
The Starflight Handbook: a Pioneers Guide to Interstellar Travel - by Eugene F. Mallove and Gregory L. Matloff.
Wiley Science Editions, New York, 1989.
Library of Congress call number: TL790 .M26 1989
Discusses the considerations to be taken when travelling to another star, as well as the propulsion required to get there.
The authors limited themselves to propulsion where the physics is more or less known (no faster-than-light or reactionless systems).
Discusses sails using both lasers and sunlight.
Starsailing: Solar Sails and Interstellar Travel - by Louis Friedman.
Wiley, New York, 1988.
Library of Congress call number: TL783.9 .F75 1988.
Discusses the history of solar sailing up to 1988, particularly the 1977-78 JPL Halley Rendezvous study.
Also discusses the designs for the JPL study, possibilities for travel throughout the solar system and beyond, and a proposed race to the moon for the 500 year anniversary of Columbus reaching North America.
