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First Controllable Solar Sail Launched Today
clustermonkey writes "The first controllable solar sail was launched earlier today from a Russian sub in the Barents Sea. The Planetary Society, founded by Carl Sagan, organized the project and were funded by Cosmos Studios, founded by Sagan's widow. There have been 2 other solar sail deployments by others, but this will be the first to attempt controlled flight. The sail is scheduled to deploy June 25." All may not be well, though: Snot Locker writes "The Cosmos 1 Weblog is showing that, although the launch initially looked successful, they can't seem to find it or hear it. Bummer. Previous Slashdot coverage on the Cosmos 1 Solar Sail mission can be found here."
It's a bit more than a "Bummer":
Engineer #1: Yessiree, that solar sail is up there! This calls for a celebration!
Engineer #2: Um. Where is it?
Engineer #1: [points] Up there!
Engineer #2: Where up there?
Engineer #1: Way, way up there.
Engineer #2: You have no idea, right?
Engineer #1: [weak laugh] Nah.
Engineer #1: [shrug] Bummer.
I swear I remember this happening before.
I'm just waiting for when it comes back as a near omnipotent being and starts demanding to see it's creator.
Waiting for an amusing sig.
I really rather hope this project is okay and only suffering from a 'glitch'. (ie: unexpected orbit)
/is found and they get a sucessful experiment. I would be good to prove that solar-sailing is a viable solar-locomotion concept rather than just proving that electronics packages are fragile things.
The trouble is, every time you take what is essentially a robotically controlled device and send it into space giving it a good *shake* in the process (rockets really do vibrate a lot), you run the risk of breaking something.
Of course, you combat this by duplicating as much of the systems as you can but when your experiment requires a very low mass (ala solar sail controller) I wonder how much redundancy is possible?
Still. I hope Cosmos sparks back to life
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
...if the craft suffered "failure to enter orbit at all", presumably that means it hit space and kept going, right? I'd imagine someone would have noticed a Russian ICBM falling randomly out of the sky.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
When I tied a Keep on Truckin' T-shirt to an Estes Andromeda.
There is a chance that it will succeed in deploying. If it's lost, it's double the downer: I helped pay for it as a Planetary Society member. PS also developed a Mars Microphone for the MPL (lost), DVD and sundial for current rovers and a balloon-borne "snake" of sensors that never flew. Dammit, I want this one to work, finally.
ad astra!
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
here
In short, at 83rd second engine stopped working for unknown reason, and the whole thing is currently being intensively searched for. Probably Russian ICBMs are not so good for launching satellites after all.
Just like some other craft we happen to know.
You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
I wonder how well this kind of propulsion will work in interestellar space where there is no solar wind, let alone enough protons from one direction.
I think the theory is you get up to a pretty high speed by the time you leave the solar system, then coast. You'd better be sure you can stop at the right place, though.
I'm sure people have figured that out. Obviously you run the process in reverse to slow down when you approach the star. But what if you can only shed half your speed by the time you get to the planet? (that is, if the other star is smaller, the planet further out, etc)?
Anyone?
xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
I wonder how well this kind of propulsion will work in interestellar space where there is no solar wind, let alone enough protons from one direction.
... coast ... -Pushx0.01 + -Pushx0.02 + -Pushx0.03 + -Pushx0.04 + -Pushx5 + -Pushx6 and you're there.
Let's visualize someone on a bike. They stand at the top of a hill (solar radiation effect, closer to the sun, more there is). They peddle enough to get going (ion drive or solar sail). Then they pick up speed rapidly as they go down the hill.
Once they reach the bottom of the hill, where there isn't enough material to push them they fold up the sail - or in our bike version, they let the mechanism keep them moving forward.
During this time the sail is folded - like the biker bent forward to lower wind resistance. As they approach the destination, based on speed, solar radiation - or for a bike, based on how steep and high the next hill is - they eventually unfurl the sail.
Pushx5 + Pushx4 + Pushx3 + Pushx2 + Pushx1
The advantage over a bike is that as you go up the hill (into the solar radiation), you get pulled in by gravity and since your sails are collapsed there is not much push back.
Simple.
Yes, I know it's not linear, I'm just trying to help you visualize it. We can deal with the space-time continuum effects another time as well.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
You made up an issue, just so you can rant about imperial measurement.
what an ass.
also, it's Reagans fault.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Engineer #1: A few hundred kilometers that way or this way wouldn't matter...
Engineer #2: Miles
Engineer #1: What do you mean "miles"?
pwnd!
You forgot one step:
Lastly, the solar wind will shred the sails of this craft, as we have not yet developed a material light enough for solar sails, yet robust enough to withstand long-term exposure to the solar wind.
Still perfectly valid for proof-of-concept, but a good long way from practical application.
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
... it must be halfway to Coruscant by now.
Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
Actually, I'm betting that this time it was due to a spelling error. The sub that launched the Volna rocket was the Borisoglebsk, The first receiving station was at Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka penninsula. The temporary ground station to pick it up next was on Majuro. Then it will next contact Panska Ves in the Czech republic. It's not until the ground stations at the Tarusa and Bear Lakes that the spelling becomes sufferable. :)
The War of 1812... the good 'ol days when the federal government actually tried to save New Orleans.
Call is sour grapes if you will, but I'm proud to be an american. Besides, we are forced learn metric in school from the time we're young. We "choose" to be different.
You sure do.
Solar sails aren't driven by solar wind or protons, they are driven by light (photons).
An interstellar voyage might be possible, but would probably require a laser or microwave system aimed at the sail for much of its journey (a brief "push" like that is also being tested as part of this experiment).
The report of data suddenly looking "noisy" about the time the final stage fired is a pretty classic bad news situation. The sequence is usually: "looking good!" "clean separation!" "5-4-3-2-1,kick motor ignition" data lost followed by, a short time later "radar indicates multiple targets..." Not that I am hoping, but it's a really bad sign. Brett
Spaceflight Now has posted a story about the launch. The 1st stage failed after 83 seconds.
...hanging out with the Vikings.
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
It's in space!
Go ahead and call me unreliable; reliable is just a synonym for predictable.
What happens if you can only shed half your speed by the time you get to the planet?
Quite simply, you enter orbit.
If you want a sail driven by solar wind/protons, you've got the Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion idea, M2P2.
From the link:
M2P2 would generate a magnetic field and then inject plasma (ionized gas) that would drag the magnetic field lines out and form a plasma bubble 30 to 60 km (18-36 mi) in diameter.
And, the plasma bubble is very light... lighter than a solar sail.
It uses a solar anchor.
Earlier today on Spaceflightnow (the quote seems to be gone in the current version of the story), the project leader was quoted as saying something like "there is a significant chance of failure". Similarly, the leader of the ill-fated Beagle 2 Mars lander publicly stated that he estimated the chances of success at about 50-50. I think we could all waste a lot less time if we just ignored missions whose own leaders inspire that much confidence. In space, you have zero tolerance for error, so what may seem like a fairly small probability of failure to a dreamer, in all likelihood means certain doom. I hate being this negative, but people think they can launch just any old septic tank into orbit and get back all this wonderful confirmation of their ideas. No lie, as soon as I read the quote from the leader of this solar sail mission, I gave up, before it was even launched.
It should be illegal to say that freedom of speech should be limited.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
I'll probably get modded down for this, but...
... check
:)
The Project Operations Assistant.
Let's review:
Sexy foreign (to me) accent... check
Geek... check
Cute... check
Knows how to blog... check
Plays with models all day long
Gets to work with stuff that makes a REALLY BIG BOOM... check
Can take a joke... we'll see.
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
Closest mirror I believe is Hubble Space Telescope, but I may be wrong.
From the story:
the first stage engine experienced "a spontaneous stoppage" 83 seconds into launch. The vehicle was allowed to continue flying because it lacked a destruct system. But there has been no further confirmation of the report.
I just love that. The vehicle was "allowed" to continue to fly, because there's no way in hell they could stop it... Oops.
Well, I hope it's doing ok, wherever it is.
Solar sails use photon pressure, aka light. Not having rtfm I suppose they could have intended to use the solar wind as well with this one, but light is what you'd use for intersteller distances.
On idea that's been kicked around is to put a huge laser on the moon and shine it at a retreating solar sail to give it an extra push to bring it up to higher speeds faster. This has the advantage beign able to use a huge facility without taking it along. Of course you'd have to reverse the sail much sooner and spend more time slowing down, unless of course there is a civilisation at the destination to build and shine an apropriate laser at you.
Mycroft
https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
You never actually stop accelerating; it's just that as the photon flux thins out you reach a point beyond which the acceleration is so small that you may as well ignore it, even over long stretches of time. After all, we get a measurable amount of light from objects 14 billion light years away, and every one of those photons accelerates the object that absorbs it by a tiny amount. It's just not enough to feel and nobody's yet thought of any use for them other than imaging.
Why bother to furl the sail? It's a lot more complex than unfurling it and you may not be able to unfurl a second time when you need it. Either leave it be, or jettison the "outbound sail" and have a second "inbound sail" for the deceleration phase.