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Everyone but the US is seriously experimenting with solar sails, Japan has one out and Russia has one almost ready. NASA is really behind in the inventive area. I hope the private sector will change this!The Space Research Institute in Moscow has concluded testing of mission control software and flight electronics for Cosmos 1, meaning that the solar sail project is closer to launch. Sponsored by the Cosmos Studios, this Planetary Society mission hopes to perform the first controlled solar sail flight.
The idea holds that solar sails would propel vehicles in space much as wind sails propel a boat. Solar sails, as the name suggests, would be driven by solar energy particles. This would reduce the need for fuel and thus decrease the weight of the spacecraft.
"This long-anticipated and crucial milestone gives us the green light to begin final assembly of the spacecraft," says Louis Friedman, Executive Director of the Planetary Society and Project Director of Cosmos 1. "If all goes well, we plan to ship the spacecraft to the launch preparation site near the port of Murmansk by the end of November."
Cosmos 1 will be carried aboard a Volna rocket launched from a Russian submarine beneath the Barents Sea. Primarily selected due to its relative affordability, the launch method was also chosen because it is easier to transport Cosmos 1 from Moscow to Murmansk. — Jeremy McGovern