Lynn.ES@PARC-MAXC@sri-unix (06/29/82)
A small space telescope would probably be adequate to observe occultations. Much occultation work on earth is done with amateur telescopes of 4 - 8 inch range. Even maneuvering in earth orbit would give a good deal of flexibility in getting to the right spot for occultations. There are hundreds of occultations of stars by minor and major planets that strike some point on the earth every year. These are ones that could be observed with a fairly small telescope with a sensitive detector (such as CCDs), and would be scientifically quite valuable. There are some problems with a solar sail to maneuver a telescope. First would be the weeks or months it might take to get to the right place for a single observation. Considering the launch expense, you would want to keep a space telescope busy almost constantly. But then other programs than occultations could probably take up this time. Second, sails are no good by the time you reach Jupiter, since the sunlight to drive them diminishes at that distance. But a solar sail mission with not just telescopes, but all kinds of sensors, would make a very good mission to the inner planets, asteroids, or comets. PS. The discovery of rings around Neptune was "possible", but about Uranus is pretty well confirmed. /Don Lynn