Launch Date Set for Cosmos 1, The World's First Solar Sail Spacecraft

[SirUlli]

Launch Date Set for Cosmos 1, The World's First Solar Sail Spacecraft

Announcement Coincides with the 70th Anniversary of the Birth of Carl Sagan, Co-Founder of The Planetary Society
By Susan Lendroth

Announcement Coincides with the 70th Anniversary of the Birth of Carl Sagan, Co-Founder of The Planetary Society

November 9, 2004

The Cosmos 1 team announced today that the world?s first solar sail spacecraft will be set for launch on March 1, 2005 from a submerged submarine in the Barents Sea. Cosmos 1 ? a project of The Planetary Society ? is sponsored by Cosmos Studios.

?With the spacecraft now built and undergoing its final checkout, we are ready to set our launch date,? said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society and Project Director of Cosmos 1. ?The precedent-setting development of the first solar sail spacecraft has had its ups and downs like a roller coaster ride, but now the real excitement begins.?

Cosmos 1?s mission goal is to perform the first controlled solar sail flight as the spacecraft is propelled by photons from sunlight. The Cosmos 1 launch period will extend from March 1 to April 7, 2005. The actual launch date will be determined by the Russian Navy, which directs the launch on the Volna rocket ? a rocket taken from the operational intercontinental ballistic missile inventory.
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more Info

http://www.planetary.org/news/...s_launch_set_1109.html

http://www.space.com/missionla...s-1_update_041109.html

http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/

Sagan?s dream

The announcement today of the Cosmos 1 launch date coincided with the birthday of Carl Sagan, a co-founder of The Planetary Society. He served as President of the group until his death in 1996 and would have been 70 years old today.

Ann Druyan, head of Cosmos Studios, was Sagan?s professional collaborator and widow. As Cosmos 1 Program Director, she said that her husband would have been pleased regarding the upcoming solar sail mission.

In particular, using a converted weapon of mass destruction as a means to explore the Universe is a dream of Sagan, "that we would not be just cleaver with our science and technology, but that we would be wise too," Druyan related.

"Happy birthday Carl," Druyan said as she threw the switch that began the Cosmos 1 countdown clock.


Here is the dedication Carl Sagan wrote in his best-selling book Cosmos:
For Ann Druyan

In the vastness of space and the immensity of time,
it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch with Annie.

http://www.csicop.org/si/2003-11/ann-druyan.html

Sir Ulli

 

[IEC]

WoW. That's an interesting concept... but um, how does it fit in with distributed computing?

 

[BlackMountainCow]

It fits 'cause you gonna have ET surfing on that vessel! :beer:

 

[silverpig]

Super cool news. Seems like space is open for business again

 

[RaySun2Be]

 

[networkman]

Thank you very much -- this is a grand find!

The implications for this project, if successful, are quite staggering; imagine being able to get space probes to the outer planets and deep space in significantly less time(theoretically) and not having to send up additional fuel(weight) or nuclear material to get the crafts going.

 

[bot2600]

Sweetness

 

[Spacehead]

Originally posted by: networkman

The implications for this project, if successful, are quite staggering; imagine being able to get space probes to the outer planets and deep space in significantly less time(theoretically) and not having to send up additional fuel(weight) or nuclear material to get the crafts going.

:thumbsup:

I wondered what happened with this project. I thought it was supposed to launch earlier this year? Maybe got backed up working the bugs out or i just got the dates wrong. Good news reguardless

 

[Dalephi]

Thanks SirUlli!