A privately funded spacecraft designed to sail on the pressure of the Sun's rays is set to try for another suborbital test launch on Thursday aboard a converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) lifting off from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea.
The Cosmos 1 Solar Sail has been repaired after damage during a pre-launch test on April 9. Flight engineers at a port at Severomorsk now are prepared for a launch at 8:33 p.m. (Eastern). The launch initially was set for Wednesday and was postponed one day.
Solar sailing is a technology that could usher in a new wave of planetary exploration by boosting or decreasing the orbits of spacecraft or carrying probes and even humans between planets and beyond, said Louis Friedman, Cosmos 1 project director.
"This sub-orbital flight is only an engineering test, but we hope someday it will lead to great accomplishments, like Viking and Apollo," Friedman said in a prepared statement. The test nearly coincides with the July 20, 1975, anniversary of Viking 1's Mars touchdown and the July 20, 1969, anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
Faster than Voyager, eventually
The sail consists of a large sheet of reflective material and a framework of inflatable girders to keep it extended while it captures the gentle pressure of the Sun's rays. Solar sailing reduces the need for carrying lots of heavy propellant.
Friedman says the sails could theoretically attain speeds 10 times greater than NASA's Voyagers 1 and 2, which travel at 38,000 mph (61,153 kilometers per hour).
NASA also is working on sunlight-propelled spacecraft, which are slow at first but eventually accelerate to speeds that make travel across great distances possible in a human lifetime.
Mission set for late 2001
The Cosmos 1 test craft will deploy two Mylar solar sail blades, while the full solar sail to be launched later this year will deploy eight blades.
The 30-minute sub-orbital test flight on Wednesday is aimed at testing the sail's deployment sequence and performance. Data collected from this test should help engineers prepare for a more ambitious mission in late 2001 when the craft will set sail for a voyage around Earth.
Cosmos 1, which has commercial and scientific goals, is co-sponsored by the science-based entertainmant group Cosmos Studios and A&E Network.
"Cosmos 1 is a big gamble for a fledgling company such as ours," Cosmos Studios Chief Executive Officer Ann Druyan said. She is the widow of astronomer Carl Sagan, who cofounded The Planetary Society with Friedman and Bruce Murray in 1980. The Planetary Society and Russian space and defense organizations also are involved in the Cosmos 1 mission.
"We take such a risk because we hope that this transformation of a Russian ICBM, a weapon of mass destruction, into a launch vehicle for a new way to travel ten times faster to the planets and stars, will attract the world's attention," Druyan said.
Capsule cam
The April accident occurred when the spacecraft's re-entry sequence was turned on by mistake. That ended up damaging some components. Repairs were made using spare parts and replacements where necessary. Tests on the re-integrated spacecraft and components have been completed.
The sub-orbital test capsule will return to Earth with pictures of the deployment. The capsule is targeted for safe landing and recovery in Kamchatka, where a Russian helicopter team will retrieve it from the rugged terrain.
Russia's Babakin Space Center built the spacecraft. The company is a spin-off organization of NPO Lavochkin, one of the largest manufacturers of robotic spacecraft in the world. Makeev Rocket Design Bureau built the launch vehicle.
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