SETI public: Cosmos 1 - The first solar sail space mission

[Larry Klaes <lklaes@bbn.com>]

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~diedrich/solarsails/news/Cosmos_1_Press_Release
.html

For Immediate Release: February 26, 2001

Contact: 

Susan Lendroth
626-793-5100 ext 237

Warren Betts
626-836-2080


THE PLANETARY SOCIETY AND COSMOS STUDIOS ANNOUNCE COSMOS 1 
THE FIRST SOLAR SAIL SPACE MISSION

TEST FLIGHT WILL LAUNCH IN APRIL WITH ORBITAL MISSION TO
LAUNCH LATER THIS YEAR

Cosmos 1: The First Solar Sail is a project of The Planetary Society 
and is solely sponsored by Cosmos Studios 

THIS MISSION IS ONE GIANT LEAP FOR HUMANKIND - THE FIRST FLIGHT OF A
TECHNOLOGY DESTINED TO TAKE HUMANKIND THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM
AND TO THE STARS

For News and Updates on this mission, visit 

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

Pasadena, CA. - February 26, 2001: The Planetary Society's Cosmos 1: The 
First Solar Sail mission, sponsored by Cosmos Studios, is set to test in 
April with the prime mission scheduled to launch between October - 
December this year. 

The deployment test flight will launch from a Russian submarine in the
Barents Sea and will be lifted into a thirty-minute sub-orbital flight 
from a Russian Volna rocket, a converted ICBM. The main mission, with 
the goal of first solar sail flight, will launch into Earth orbit later 
this year, also from a Volna rocket. 

Once in orbit, the solar sail spacecraft will be as bright as the full 
Moon (although only a point in the sky) and will be visible from places 
on Earth with the naked eye. Images of the sail in flight will be sent 
to Earth from two different cameras on-board the spacecraft. 

The mission represents the first private mission of space exploration 
technology and the first mission by a private space interest organization. 
It will explore and develop technology that could open the door to future 
flights throughout the solar system and beyond. The mission will be carried 
out by a unique, privately funded Russian-American space venture. 

"This could be a pivotal moment for space exploration, said Louis Friedman,
Executive Director of The Planetary Society and Project Director of Cosmos 1.

"Solar Sailing is a grand adventure as well as an important leap in 
technological innovation." 

Space sailing is done not with wind ,but with reflected light pressure -- 
pushing on giant sails, changing the orbital energy and spacecraft velocity
continuously. The sunlight pressure is powerful enough to push spacecraft 
between the planets from Mercury out to Jupiter. Beyond Jupiter, and out 
to the stars, space sailing can be done using powerful lasers focused over 
long distances in space. 

"The lasers themselves will be powered by solar energy - keeping the spirit 
of solar sailing alive to other stars," added Friedman. 

"The many special aspects of this first attempted solar sail flight -- 
Russian-American collaboration; use of weapons of war for launching peaceful 
technologies for humankind's future; attempting a very low cost, privately 
funded space initiative in a one-year time schedule; realizing one of Carl 
Sagan's dreams; working with Ann Druyan, Sagan's wife and long-time 
collaborator, who, together with Joe Firmage, had the courage to fund 
this project - make us extremely proud of what we have accomplished 
before we've even launched," said Friedman. 

"We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are 
ready at last to set sail for the stars," wrote Sagan and Druyan in their 
television series, Cosmos. 

"This is a Kitty Hawk moment to us. We feel as if we've been given the 
chance to outfit the Wright Brothers' Bicycle Shop," said Ann Druyan, 
CEO of Cosmos Studios, Inc. "We at Cosmos Studios are honored to work 
with the brilliant scientists and engineers of many countries brought 
together by The Planetary Society for one great purpose. We are proud 
to be part of this historic mission, which is a critical baby step to 
the stars. It's also emblematic of Cosmos Studios' philosophy: to support 
good science, clean high technology and bold exploration, and to engage 
the widest possible audience in the romance of the adventure." 

The low cost of this mission is made possible due to the Russian ability 
to "piggy-back" on a successful program in developing an inflatable re-entry 
vehicle. Once injected into Earth's orbit, the sail will be deployed by 
inflatable tubes, pulling out the sail material and then rigidizing the 
structure. 

The sail is constructed into eight "blades" or "petals" - roughly triangular 
in shape. They can be turned (pitched) like helicopter blades, and depending 
on how they are turned, the sunlight will reflect in different directions. 
This is how the attitude of the spacecraft is controlled and how the sail
can "tack." 

Low cost is also made possible by use of the Volna rocket, manufactured by 
the Makeev Rocket Bureau in Russia. The Babakin Space Center is the prime 
contractor for the project - the company is a spin-off organization of NPO
Lavochkin, the largest manufacturer of robotic spacecraft in the world. 

The April launch will be a sub-orbital flight test of the deployment of 
two solar sail blades. An inflatable re-entry shield is planned to bring 
the pictures of the deployment back to a landing and recovery site in 
Kamchatka. The actual solar sail flight will commence from an 850 km 
circular orbit, with a launch being planned in a window between October - 
December of this year. The sail will be 600 square meters of aluminized 
mylar, constructed into 8 blades.  

Solar sailing enables space travel without fuel. Applications from space 
weather satellites that can hold position against the force of gravity, 
to interplanetary shuttles carrying cargo between the planets and the 
asteroids and comets are all part of the solar sailing future. By diving 
in close to the Sun, future solar sails will achieve enormous velocities 
enabling rendezvous with any solar system object, or, as mentioned above, 
a flight to the stars. 

Cosmos 1 is staffed by a world team of Americans and Russians. The Planetary 
Society website has a dedicated section to this mission, which includes an 
animation of the mission, spacecraft details, updates and news releases. It 
will allow the world public to follow and participate in this mission. This 
site is open to the public and is located at 

http://planetary.org

This will be the first space mission that will utilize a website to 
continuously interface the sequence of the mission with the general public,
allowing continued and uninterrupted public participation. Additional 
information will also be available at the Cosmos Studios website located at 

http://carlsagan.com

The Planetary Society is headquartered in Pasadena, California, U.S.A. The 
organization was co-founded by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman 
in 1980 to advance the exploration of the solar system, and to continue the
search for extraterrestrial life. With 100,000 members in over 140 countries, 
the Society is the largest space interest group in the world. 

Cosmos Studios creates science-based entertainment that seeks to thrill 
and engage the broadest possible audience through the convergence of 
television, cinema and the Internet. The company creates programming 
that makes news, entertains, uplifts and inspires humankind's quest for 
knowledge, our understanding of cosmic evolution, and our place in its 
great story. Cosmos Studios is based in Los Angeles, California and is 
managed from Ithaca, New York. 

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Benjamin Diedrich -- diedrich@ugcs.caltech.edu
Last modified: Mon Feb 26 10:07:52 PST 2001