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Cosmos 1 Solar Sail Update
For Immediate Release
June 21, 2005
Contact
Mat Kaplan
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1-626-793-5100
On June 21, 2005, Cosmos 1, a project of The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios, was launched by a Russian submarine from the Barents Sea. Cosmos 1 is the first solar sail spacecraft and is designed to sail on light, using photons for propulsion in Earth orbit.
The following is a statement regarding the status of the mission at 3:00 PM PDT:
The Cosmos 1 spacecraft was launched today but we cannot, at this time, confirm a successful orbit injection. Some launch vehicle and spacecraft telemetry data gave ambiguous information during the launch. Since the orbit insertion burn, no signal has been received from the spacecraft. There are continuing efforts to receive a signal from the spacecraft.
The Planetary Society will continue to post updates on its website at http://planetary.org as information on the status of the spacecraft becomes available.
About The Planetary Society
With a global community of more than 2 million space enthusiasts, The Planetary Society is the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization. Founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman and today led by CEO Bill Nye, we empower the public to take a meaningful role in advancing space exploration through advocacy, education outreach, scientific innovation, and global collaboration. Together with our members and supporters, we’re on a mission to explore worlds, find life off Earth, and protect our planet from dangerous asteroids. To learn more, visit www.planetary.org.
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