al@ames-lm.UUCP (Al Globus) (04/02/84)
This is in response to some mail I got. I couldn't reply and thought the info was of general interest so here goes. NASA's plans for the space station system include two 'tugs'. One, call the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) is used near the station (probably within line of sight). The other, called Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) can move payloads from one orbit to another (e.g., polar orbit to station orbit, station orbit to GEO). Second, solar sails are only useful above about 1-2000 miles because of atmospheric drag. Since the space station will probably be in a 250 mile (or so) circular orbit, solar sails will not be able to dock with the station.