Pekka Janhunen

Pekka Janhunen is a Finnish space physicist, astrobiologist, and inventor. He is a research manager at the Finnish Meteorological Institute's Space and Earth Observation Centre and a visiting professor at the University of Tartu, Estonia. He is also senior technical advisor at Aurora Propulsion Technologies, a startup company operating in the space sector. Janhunen studied theoretical physics at the University of Helsinki and earned his Ph.D. in space plasma physics simulations in 1994. He has also published a theory on the origin of multicellular life. Janhunen is best known for his electric solar wind sail invention.[1][2]

Pekka Janhunen at a 2013 ESTCube-1 presentation

Research

Electric sail
Main article: Electric sail

Janhunen's electric sail could enable travel at speeds of up to 100 km/s in space without any fuel consumption. With no major problems in any of the technical fields thus far, planning of the first test mission was reported to have begun, as per a 2008 ScienceDaily article.[3] Janhunen received funding for his electric solar wind sail research from the Runar Bäckström foundation in 2005.[4]

Steam balloons as rocket launch pads

Janhunen has proposed that steam balloons could be used to launch rockets and satellites from higher altitudes. According to the Finnish scientist, steam balloons are a cost-effective way of lifting a rocket into the stratosphere. The method is considered to be safe and could reduce the carbon footprint of future rocket launches, whereas in the past, emissions alone had terrible implications for the climate.[5]

Natural illumination solution for rotating space settlements

Janhunen has proposed a lighting solution for an O'Neill Cylinder. According to this concept, sunlight is concentrated by cylindrical paraboloid concentrators and reflected by semi-toroidal and conical reflectors and controlled by local blinders to simulate Earth-like diurnal and seasonal illumination cycles.[6]

Shielded dumbbell L5 settlement

Janhunen has also conceived of a two-sphere dumbbell configuration design of a rotating settlement for a first-generation in-space habitat settlement.[7]

Ceres space station

Built in the orbit of the dwarf planet Ceres, Janhunen's megasatellite structure would consist of numerous cylinders, each many kilometers in size. They would be mounted on a disc that is lit from above and below by sun mirrors. Ceres would supply the materials for the construction. According to Janhunen, Ceres is best suited for such a project, because the surface of the dwarf planet contains nitrogen, which is needed to create an Earth-like atmosphere. Such a settlement could also be realized elsewhere, for example in the orbit of Mars, whose smaller moon Deimos would offer itself as a quarry.[8]

References
  • "A web-page about the electric solar wind sail by Pekka Janhunen". Retrieved 18 April 2008. Also published in Ann. Geophys., 25, 755-767, 2007
  • "Grants awarded by Runar Bäckström foundation".
  • "A three-dimensional stabilization mechanism for the auroral Farley-Buneman instability". Also in J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 54, 1633–1643, 1992.
  • "Abstract of the "On the possibility of using an electromagnetic ionosphere in global MHD simulations". Also in Ann. Geophys., 16, 397-402, 1998.
  • Asteroid touring nanosat fleet with single-tether E-sails, P. Janhunen, P. Toivanen, J. Envall, K. Muinonen, A. Slavinskis, J. Gonzalez del Amo, Proceedings of the European Planetary Science Congress, 2017.

Footnotes
  1. "Pekka Janhunen". 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. "About us". 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. "Electric Solar Wind Sail Could Power Future Space Travel in Solar System". ScienceDaily. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
  4. "Runar Bäckströmin säätiö jakoi 176 000 Euroa keksintöjen kehittämiseen" [The Runar Bäckström foundation has distributed 176,000 Euros for the development of inventions]. otaniemi.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  5. "Steam balloons could be used to launch satellites". ScitechEuropa. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  6. "Natural illumination solution for rotating space settlements" (PDF). 1 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  7. "A design for a first-generation in-space habitat settlement affordable at launch costs of $300/kg is proposed by Pekka Janhunen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Helsinki". 15 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  8. "Das könnte das Paradies werden". 20 February 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
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