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Author Topic: Nonprofit space project prepares to set sail
Agent 204
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4668

posted 21 June 2005 07:16 PM      Profile for Agent 204   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:

After nearly four years of delays, the world's first solar-sail-powered spacecraft is ready for its day in the sun.

Cosmos 1 will rocket into space June 21 aboard a modified Russian missile, according to mission planners.

If all is successful, the spacecraft will become the first to boost itself into a higher orbit using nothing more than the gentle pressure of sunlight bouncing off its sails. The feat could open the door to all sorts of new and far-reaching missions.

"Things are looking good for June 21st," said Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Society, the nonprofit space advocacy group sponsoring the mission. "There's no threat to the mission at this point. We've done our best and we're proud of where we are."



Source.

[ 21 June 2005: Message edited by: Agent 204 ]


From: home of the Guess Who | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
radiorahim
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2777

posted 21 June 2005 11:54 PM      Profile for radiorahim     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Interesting that many of the old Soviet missiles have been turned into launch vehicles for various satellites etc.

Something about beating swords into ploughshares


From: a Micro$oft-free computer | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
up
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9143

posted 22 June 2005 11:59 AM      Profile for up     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Crashed.
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Albireo
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Babbler # 3052

posted 22 June 2005 05:08 PM      Profile for Albireo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Link:
quote:
PASADENA, Calif. (Reuters) - The world's first solar sail-powered spacecraft failed to reach its planned orbit after the Russian rocket carrying it shut down less than two minutes after launch, Russia's state space agency said on Wednesday.
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It was unclear if privately funded Cosmos 1 had crashed to Earth, and the U.S. backers of the project at the Planetary Society in Pasadena, California, said they had detected faint signals from the craft, possibly from a lower orbit.

"The unique solar sail spacecraft was not delivered to its planned orbit because the engine of the first stage of the 'Volna' rocket shut itself down 83 seconds into the flight," Russia's Federal Space Agency said in a statement.



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