Launch Date for First Solar Sail due Monday

slashdot ^ | Saturday May 07, @08:42AM | Zonk

[Arkie2]

"The Planetary Society (home of SETI) is planning to launch the first Solar Sail Spacecraft, Cosmos 1, later this month. The exact launch date is scheduled to be announced on Monday, May 9. This event represents one of the first privately-funded space missions with the objective of pure research. It will be launched from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea. The spacecraft consists of a body surrounded by 8 triangular sails, that will use the tiny force of reflected sunlight to (potentially) accelerate to tremendous speeds. Unfortunately, the craft is not expected to leave Earth's orbit due to degradation of the mylar materials, but should be a proof of concept for subsequent missions."

[Arkie2]

ping

[Jalapeno]

aw, man...I was gonna to ping him. ;>

[quesera]

Will it get us to the nearest star system in our lifetime, I doubt it.

Waste of time and money.

[sandydipper]

For man to travel to other star systems a craft faster than the speed of light will be necessary. Hard to imagine.

[Adder]

WOW.

There was a sci-fi story years and years ago about a "yacht" race using solar sails that were miles big. I was very impressed with the idea. Wish I could remember more details or find it but it really stood out at the time.


If its privately funded, its not a waste. Who knows. It might prove to be a boon.

[KevinDavis]

[KevinDavis]

What is your problem? It did not cost you any money...

[RadioAstronomer]

At JPL, often I would go down to the offices where the Solar Sail project was being managed. :-) I bet those guys are excited at the moment.

[RadioAstronomer]

For man to travel to other star systems a craft faster than the speed of light will be necessary.

I don't see how that is possible at the moment. That pesky thing called physics keeps getting in the way.

[mhking]

Waste of time and money.

PRIVATELY funded.

[msf92497]

The world is flat.

[DTogo]

Cool, kinda like Count Dooku's ship in the last Star Wars episode. Hope it works!

[B-Chan]

The story you want is "Sunjammer", also known as "The Wind from the Sun" by Arthur C. Clarke, first published in Boy's Life magazine in March 1964.

[Adder]

Thanks! Thats gotta be it!

I really used to like AC Clark's work so its no wonder I remembered it....

Again, thank you.

[tfecw]

Anyone have the site that was the official site for this Doohickey? I know they had a counter on it, but the book mark is at home. I understand the Launch is today, but when do they plan on deploying the sails and letting this baby loose?

[Arkie2]

http://www.planetarysociety.org/

The launch won't be today but sometime later this month.

[r9etb]

Unfortunately, the craft is not expected to leave Earth's orbit due to degradation of the mylar materials, but should be a proof of concept for subsequent missions."

Well, that does represent a bit of a problem....

[Arkie2]

It's just a testbed. Think of it as one of those NASA test lifting bodies they flew back in the 70's and 80's. It's not intended to do anything other than collect data.

[r9etb]

No, I understand that it's just a test. However, mylar degradation is still going to be a problem for any operational application.

The likely cause of degradation for this particular package will be atomic oxygen, if they're flying fairly low. Beyond the Earth, the biggest issue will be darkening of the mylar reflective materials, which is also something that has to be dealt with down low.

The bottom line is, for any extended-duration mission they're going to have to deal somehow with the fact that their solar sail efficiency is going to drop with time. It may mean carrying spares and the attendant difficulty of switching them out on the fly.

I think also that this test is going to have to contend with eclipses, which may make the sails flap unexpectedly....