csua.org/u/cge -> www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0506/21solarsailupdate/
Supply ship docking The 18th Progress resupply ship launched to the International Space Stati on is guided to docking with the Zvezda service module's aft port via ma nual control from commander Sergei Krikalev.
Extended version Shuttle collection As excitement builds for the first space shuttle launch in over two years , this comprehensive video selection captures the major pre-flight event s for Discovery and her seven astronauts.
Play video Station update A status report on the Expedition 11 crew's mission aboard the Internatio nal Space Station is given during this news conference Monday.
Broadband Tropical Storm Arlene A camera on the International Space Station captured this view of Tropica l Storm Arlene moving into the Gulf of Mexico as the orbiting complex fl ew above the weather system at 2:33 pm EDT on Friday, June 10.
More video Success of solar sail launch unknown BY STEPHEN CLARK SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: June 21, 2005 Russian sailors launched the world's first solar sail from a nuclear subm arine today, but the Cosmos 1 craft went missing a short time later and has not been located in orbit. Russian news services reported the rocket 's first stage experienced an engine problem, suggesting that the sail e ither shot into the wrong orbital perch or never achieved orbit at all. The Volna rocket -- a converted ballistic missile -- blasted out of its l aunch tube aboard the Borisoglebsk at 1946 GMT (3:46 pm EDT). The Russ ian Navy submarine was stationed underwater in the Barents Sea offshore Russia's northern coast. The Planetary Society responsible for the mission provided online updates as reports came into their project operations center in Pasadena, Calif ornia, this afternoon. The day began with nervous optimism, but that evo lved into frustration and confusion following the launch. Officials had set up two portable UHF communication stations at Petropavl ovsk on the Kamchatka peninsula in far eastern Russia and on the island of Majuro in the Pacific's Marshall Islands. Neither facility reported a ny direct telemetry contact with the spacecraft during the first half-ho ur after launch. However, a Doppler tracking signal did momentarily track the spacecraft a t Petropavlovsk a little over ten minutes into the flight. The signal wa s then lost, possibly due to the planned burn of the orbital injection k ick motor. "They have analyzed the Petropavlovsk data and all indications are that t he spacecraft was running its program as expected, at least at the begin ning of the Kamchatka contact," officials said. Project Director Louis Friedman -- watching the events unfold from missio n control in Moscow -- said the Doppler data also indicated the kick mot or did fire for the planned duration. Furt her analysis of the tracking information shows what appears to be accele ration as the engine burn begins, however, the signal gets "noisy" and d ifficult to understand. "Indications are that (the) orbit burn was received over Kamchatka. "It looks like it may be a long night here in Moscow and a long day in Pa sadena." A later communications opportunity via permanent ground stations over 90 minutes after launch also turned up no news on the fate of Cosmos 1 The Tarusa UHF station and the Bear Lakes S-band antenna near Moscow, along with another pair of UHF and S-band antennas at Panska Ves in the Czech Republic, were to have had marginal views of the spacecraft at low elev ations near the horizon. As the intermittent Volna rocket telemetry was further analyzed, official s noted potential problems during the launch phase. "There is some that doesn't appear quite right," said Emily Lakdawalla, Project Operations A ssistant and Image Processing Coordinator for Cosmos 1 "At the same point, there is this apparent indication of an orbit inserti on motor firing at about the right time. But nothing happened after that , except the data went noisy, and we don't know," she reported shortly a fter 2200 GMT (6:00 pm EDT). Attempts to track the spacecraft by the US military also revealed no ev idence of the craft in orbit. That indicated the solar sail was either s hot into the wrong orbital perch or never achieved orbit at all. A short ened firing by the first stage would explain either scenarios. "Negative news is not good news," said Planetary Society Chairman Bruce M urray. "On the other hand, we do not have direct evidence for failure. The next communications passes at Tarusa and Bear Lakes are slated for ab out 0423 GMT (12:23 am EDT) Wednesday morning. But that timing assumes the spacecraft is flying in the intended orbit. The potential that Cosmos is even circling the planet tonight is question able, based on a Russian news story that quotes the Northern Fleet as sa ying the first stage engine experienced "a spontaneous stoppage" 83 seco nds into launch. The vehicle was allowed to continue flying because it l acked a destruct system. But there has been no further confirmation of t he report. If the Volna did fail, it would be the second launch mishap of the day fo r the Russian space program. A military communications satellite crashed back to Earth this morning after its Molniya rocket failed to deliver t he craft to orbit.
The three stages of the liquid-fueled Volna booster were to have complete d their job just over six minutes after liftoff. The third stage was the n to have jettisoned, followed by the release of the protective payload fairing that shielded the Cosmos 1 spacecraft during its launch through the lower atmosphere. Thrusters were then slated to fire to spin up the solar sail to about 22. That was expected to come at a point 15 minutes, 45 seconds into the fl ight, while cutoff was programmed to occur almost four minutes later. Plans then called for the spacecraft to spin down, followed by the separa tion of Cosmos 1 from its kick motor. Four electricity-producing solar p anels were expected to deploy about 44 minutes after liftoff to relieve the strain on batteries that powered the craft during the initial portio n of the flight. Solar sails could play a key role in future long-distance space missions because they are able to utilize the Sun's light pressure by essentially unfurling large lightweight structures that can reflect light. This les sens the need to carry large amounts of massive chemical rocket fuels fo r maneuvering thrusters. Developed and built by Russia's NPO Lavochkin firm at a factory outside M oscow, Cosmos 1 was largely funded by The Planetary Society members, pri vate donors, and a science media venture known as Cosmos Studios. Cosmos 1 draws upon decades of research and testing of the solar sail con cept, but this mission marks the first time such a craft has ever been s ent into orbit to demonstrate the ability to use particles sunlight know n as photons as a means of propulsion. Deployment tests on the ground and in space have been carried out over th e past few years by space agencies around the world, but Cosmos 1 will b e the first to fully incorporate a solar sail structure to attempt to de monstrate the feasibility of its use as a propulsion system. Ground controllers at the primary operations center in Russia will verify the performance of all aspects of the spacecraft before going ahead wit h the deployment of eight ultra-thin sail blades a few days after launch . Each blade is composed of a reinforced mylar material that measures just five microns thick, or about a quarter of the thickness of a normal hous ehold trash bag. They were compactly folded and housed inside containers for launch. From its perch some 500 miles high, Cosmos 1 is expected to be visible to skywatchers around the world after it unfurls its eight solar sail blad es no earlier than Sunday in pairs of four at a time. Each blade is about 50 feet in length, and the entire structure will span about 100 feet tip-to-tip. The eight blades will cover a surface area o f about 6,500 square feet. This is well over the size of a regulation ba sketball court. The Planetary Society is seeking input from amateur observers throughout the mission to help determine just how bright and reflective the sails a re. It is believed Cosmos 1 will...
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