Solar-sail spacecraft launch fails

[LordOfTheBorg 1]

The launch of an engineless spacecraft that was to test the potential of "solar sails" for space travel failed to reach its planned orbit, and project organizers said Wednesday it is most likely lost.

 

The first stage of the Volna rocket carrying Cosmos 1 from a Russian Navy submarine in the Barents Sea stopped firing 83 seconds into the launch Tuesday afternoon, Emily Lakdawalla, science and technology coordinator for The Planetary Society in Pasadena, Calif., said. In addition, the second-stage boosters failed to separate from the spacecraft, making it impossible for it to reach its planned orbit of 500 miles above the Earth,

 

A likely scenario is that the spacecraft reached far enough in space to make a partial orbit, or possibly multiple orbits, around the Earth before burning up in the atmosphere. Ground stations did pickup some signals from Cosmos 1 after the launch, but those have faded.

 

"There's still a slim, very slim, chance that the spacecraft is up there," Lakdawalla said. "We haven't given up hope, ... but it's an unlikely scenario."

 

If the spacecraft had made it to its orbit, it would have deployed in four days eight, aluminized-plastic, triangular sails attached in a circle measuring 100 feet across. The solar sails were expected to move the vehicle through space by reflecting photons from the Sun. Photons are electromagnetic particles that carry the energy of light.

 

If the process had worked, it would have caused the spacecraft to continuously pickup speed, until it theoretically could reach speeds far beyond that of spaceships powered by chemicals, organizers said.

 

For example, the Voyager spacecraft launched by NASA to explore Earth's solar system travels at about 37,000 miles per hour. A ship powered by solar sails, however, could theoretically reach speeds three times that rate or faster.

 

Cosmos 1 was expected to remain in orbit for about a month before breaking up. Powered by sails 5-microns thick, the 220-pound spacecraft was not built to withstand the rigors of long-term space travel.

 

Nevertheless, if the project had succeeded, it would have shown that solar sails could be useful some day in taking people from Earth to Mars in a kind of interplanetary ferry, organizers say. The technology also could be used in rendezvousing spacecraft with comets.

 

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is interested in using the technology to power a satellite that would monitor eruptions on the Sun, called solar flares, according to The Planetary Society.

 

The spacecraft was built with funding from Cosmos Studio, a science-based entertainment group that produces programming for TV, movies and the Internet; and members of the nonprofit Planetary Society. Cosmos Studio was co-founded by Ann Druyan, widow of Carl Sagan, creator of the Emmy Award-winning TV series "Cosmos."

 

While not committing to a Cosmos 2, Lakdawalla said Cosmos Studio and others who funded the $4 million project that failed are willing to fund future space projects.

 

"We'll continue to push the boundaries of space exploration," Lakdawalla said.

[Madame Butterfly 0]

Hmmmmmm, think this is a duplicate thread. :(

[LordOfTheBorg 1]

really? oops, my bad. I didnt see the other one and this was interesting.