Launch Set for Solar Sail Spacecraft

[mbperrin]

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-solar-sail,1,1093743.story?coll=sns-ap-science-headlines

PASADENA, Calif. -- Scientists in Russia and California worked on final preparations for the planned launch of the first spacecraft propelled by the solar wind.

If all goes as planned, Cosmos 1 was to be launched early Tuesday afternoon, California time, and carried into Earth's orbit by a converted intercontinental ballistic missile, according to the Planetary Society, which is undertaking the nearly $4 million experiment.

The missile was being launched from a submerged Russian submarine in the Barents Sea. Russian, American and Czech ground stations will track the craft.

The solar wind is a stream of highly charged particles that are emitted by the sun. Solar sails are envisioned as a means for achieving interstellar flight. Though very gentle, solar pressure should allow such spacecraft to gradually build up great speeds over time, and cover great distances. more..

Extremely inexpensive spaceflight possible! I still remember the first time I read "The Wind from the Sun" by Arthur C. Clarke as a young boy. Here's a link to a recent retelling of that story:
http://www.ec-lille.fr/~u3p/bd/bda.html

[TroglodyteScholar]

1. Very interesting post...

I've been waiting several years to see if anything came of solar wind propulsion. Can't wait to read follow-ups.....

[Baclava]

2. "Moscow - we have a problem...."

Success of solar sail launch unknown
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: June 21, 2005

Russian sailors launched the world's first solar sail from a nuclear submarine today, but the Cosmos 1 craft went missing a short time later and has not been located in orbit. Russian news services reported the rocket's first stage experienced an engine problem, suggesting that the sail either shot into the wrong orbital perch or never achieved orbit at all.

"At the same point, there is this apparent indication of an orbit insertion motor firing at about the right time. But nothing happened after that, except the data went noisy, and we don't know," she reported shortly after 2200 GMT (6:00 p.m. EDT).

Attempts to track the spacecraft by the U.S. military also revealed no evidence of the craft in orbit. That indicated the solar sail was either shot into the wrong orbital perch or never achieved orbit at all. A shortened firing by the first stage would explain either scenarios.

>much more...

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0506/21solarsailupdate/

[TroglodyteScholar]

3. Russian Space Agency: Solar Launch Failed :(

MOSCOW - The world's first solar sail spacecraft crashed back to Earth when its booster rocket failed less than two minutes after Tuesday's takeoff, Russian space officials said Wednesday.

The Cosmos 1 vehicle, a joint U.S.-Russian project, was intended to show that a so-called solar sail can make a controlled flight. Solar sails, designed to be propelled by pressure from sunlight, are seen as a potential means for achieving interstellar flight, allowing such spacecraft to gradually build up great velocity and cover large distances.

But the Volna booster rocket failed 83 seconds after its launch from a Russian nuclear submarine in the northern Barents Sea just before midnight Tuesday in Moscow, the Russian space agency said.

Its spokesman, Vyacheslav Davidenko, said that "the booster's failure means that the solar sail vehicle was lost." The Russian navy began a search for debris from the booster and the vehicle, he said.

Russian Space Agency: Solar Launch Failed

Bummer. I really want this concept to work.....

[Ripley]

4. Unfortunately the Russian booster failed...Cosmos crashed...

But here is the link for the solar sail...

http://www.solarsail.org/