Don,
not to be a wet blanket but Earths magnetic field is pretty weak.
"The strength of the field at the Earth's surface ranges from less than 30 microteslas (0.3 gauss) in an area including most of South America and South Africa to over 60 microteslas (0.6 gauss) around the magnetic poles in northern Canada and south of Australia, and in part of Siberia. "
http://www.crystalinks.com/earthsmagneticfield.html
I remember that it took a long time to reposition AO-40 and this was just for a angle change.
I suppose if the spacecraft had a very low mass and you could generate a extremely strong field of your own you might be able to do something. I always thought a ion engine might be interesting but we need something better than solar panels and NiCad batteries for a power source.
73
Kevin WA6FWF
Amsat-UK # 6505
----- Original Message ----- From: "don" donmc@xtra.co.nz To: AMSAT-BB@amsat.org Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 8:35 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] could we raise orbit etc.
This is so on topic that it deserves to grow a life.
Since both the earth and the sun have magnetic fields it may be possible, at various times depending on the relative positions of the spacecraft, earth and sun to change the spacecraft velocity by using magnetic systems. This is an interesting subject that is sure to have been discussed before, but an internet search didn't come up with much at all. Some one on the list will probably be able to point to some research on the subject. For sure it would be a slow,computation intensive endeavor but I cannot see why it, theoretically at least, cannot be done.
Don ZL1THO AMSAT MEMBER 36225 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb