Author Topic: Cosmos 1 (Read 412 times)

Krusher · « **on:** June 21, 2005, 04:47:55 PM »

will rocket into space June 21 aboard a modified Russian
missile, according to mission planners.

If all is successful, the spacecraft will become the first to boost
itself into a higher orbit using nothing more than the gentle pressure of sunlight bouncing off its sails. The feat could open the door to all sorts of new and far-reaching missions.

cool beans

Ripsnort · « **Reply #1 on:** June 21, 2005, 05:07:44 PM »

http://www.solarsail.org/

Cool stuff! Thanks for the info.

Russian · « **Reply #2 on:** June 21, 2005, 05:46:39 PM »

21:50 UTC
Cosmos 1the first solar sail was launched as scheduled at 19:46 UTC today from the nuclear submarine Borisoglebsk. The three stage separations occurred normally, and 15 minutes after launch a doppler signal was received at the temporary ground station at Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. The signal lasted for around three minutes, and was then cut off for unknown reasons.

No signal has been received from the spacecraft since that time. The portable telemetry station at Majuro in the Marshall Islands did not receive a signal during the time it could have been in contact with the spacecraft. The next possible contact will be with the ground station at Panska Ves in the Czech Republic.

The fact that the spacecraft has remained silent does not necessarilly mean anything is wrong, according to Project Director Louis Friedman. Contact with the two portable stations at Petropavlovsk and Majuro was always considered marginal. We are now waiting for the contact periods with the permanent stations in Paska Ves, Tarusa, and Bear Lakes.

ASTAC · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2005, 06:30:42 PM »

Yup..it's dead all right. Neat idea though.

Krusher · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2005, 06:52:40 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Russian
21:50 UTC
Cosmos 1the first solar sail was launched as scheduled at 19:46 UTC today from the nuclear submarine Borisoglebsk. The three stage separations occurred normally, and 15 minutes after launch a doppler signal was received at the temporary ground station at Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. The signal lasted for around three minutes, and was then cut off for unknown reasons.

Man that sucks

Russian · « **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2005, 06:53:14 PM »

Yeah doesn't sound too good. I guess only nukes should be launched from subs by ICBM.

Quote

4:20 pm PDT (23:20 UTC):
As Silence from the Spacecraft Continues, Cosmos 1 Team Works to Analyse its Cause

The silence from Cosmos 1 continues four and a half hours after it was launched from the submarine Borosoglebsk in the Barents Sea. "We don't know why this is" said Project Director Louis Friedman by phone from Moscow during a press conference at The Planetary Society this afternoon. "It is obviously very worrisome, but it is too early to draw any conclusions."

At 3:00 this afternoon (22:00 UTC) The Planetary Society released the following statement regarding the condition of Cosmos 1: The Cosmos 1 spacecraft was launched today but we cannot, at this time, confirm that a successful orbit injection. Some launch vehicle and spacecraft telemetry data gave ambiguous information during the launch. Since the orbit insertion burn, no information has been received from the spacecraft. There are continuing efforts to receive a signal from the spacecraft.

15 minutes after the launch Doppler data was received from the spacecraft for around 6 minutes. The signal was steady at first but became irregular about the time the orbit insertion motor was scheduled to fire. Within three minutes the signal was lost, and the spacecraft has not been observed or contacted since. According to Mission Manager Jim Cantrell, the fact that the spacecraft transmitter did turn on as they were programmed to do suggests that Cosmos 1 separated from the launch vehicle as planned. If a problem occurred, it may have taken place during the orbit insertion stage.

There are other possibilities as well: according to Louis Friedman, mission controllers in Russia are also concerned about a report of anomolous data during early stages of the launch. This could indicate a possible problem with the VOlna launch vehicle itself.

At the press conference Cantrell reported that the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) was also looking for the spacecraft. STRATCOM was in touch with the Cosmos 1 team during the planning stages, and was supposed to track the spacecraft from its observation stations in Alaska and the Pacific Ocean. So far, however, STRATCOM has detected no sign of the spacecraft.

According to Cantrell, this could mean either that the spacecraft simply "is not there," or that STRATCOM weren't looking in the right place. "The spacecraft clearly wasn't where we told them that it would be" said Cantrell, "but it is possible that it passed them by."

No signal from Cosmos1 was received during the last contact window at the ground station in Panska Ves. The next possible contact will be with the Tarusa and Bear Lakes ground stations near Moscow.

"Not getting a signal from a spacecraft during the first few orbits is not extremely unusual" said Cantrell. He indicated that although the signs were not promising, the Cosmos 1 team was still far from giving up on the spacecraft and the mission

spitfiremkv · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2005, 07:05:46 PM »

if all works well you should be able to see it with the naked eye.
that is, if the unfurling is done automatically.
we'll 'see'

Boroda · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2005, 07:14:23 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Russian
nuclear submarine Borisoglebsk.

I have been to Borisoglebsk in 1993 IIRC. They have a Lenin monument painted blue there. And it was the last time when I had my nose beaten heavily by some people I wasn't aquainted to. They just knocked me out getting out of the bus I wanted to get on to. A pure provincial adventure.

Quote

Originally posted by Russian
now waiting for the contact periods with the permanent stations in Paska Ves, Tarusa, and Bear Lakes.

In 1980-82 my Father's flat had a beautiful view on Medvezhyi Ozyora (Bear Lakes) parabolic reflectors. I simply didn't know that they can rotate to scan different sectors of the sky...

Maverick · « **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2005, 07:34:56 PM »

I blame Spectre. We better put 007 onto the case.

Seriously, damn shame it didn't work. I hope they can figure it out and do it again.

Boroda · « **Reply #9 on:** June 21, 2005, 08:26:51 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Maverick
I blame Spectre. We better put 007 onto the case.

Seriously, damn shame it didn't work. I hope they can figure it out and do it again.

As Spectre, NASA, Pentagon or Al-Qaeda sponsors Russian submarine missile launches - I think we can try again

/*Mentining Al-Quaeda is a joke, I just wanted to show you some dialectic attitude.*/

Russian · « **Reply #10 on:** June 21, 2005, 08:54:13 PM »

Áåç äÿäþøêå Ëåíèíà íåëüçÿ íè êóäà. ß çà ÷òî âäàðèëè? Ïðîñòî òàê?

BlueJ1 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 21, 2005, 09:04:26 PM »

Better keep an eye on those darn commie Chinese. They in the running to conquer space.

Russian · « **Reply #12 on:** June 21, 2005, 09:54:11 PM »

From FAQ......

Quote

.24. What happened on the suborbital test flight?

On July 20 2001 a suborbital test flight, designed to deploy two sails, was launched from the submarine Borisoglebsk in the Barents Sea on board a Volna rocket. Unfortunately the Volna's on-board computer failed to issue the command for the spacecraft to separate from the third stage of the rocket. Since the spacecraft remained housed within the rocket, the sails could not deploy. The spacecraft and the third stage of the rocket continued in ballistic flight and landed in Kamchatka. In effect, although the launch was successful, the suborbital deployment test never took place.

Krusher · « **Reply #13 on:** June 22, 2005, 07:08:45 AM »

This may be good news.

They have some contact with the ship, it may be in a lower than expected orbit.

Mickey1992 · « **Reply #14 on:** June 22, 2005, 07:14:42 AM »

Sucks.

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MOSCOW - A joint Russian-U.S. project to launch a solar sail space vehicle crashed back to Earth when the booster rocket's engine failed less than two minutes after takeoff, the Russian space agency said Wednesday.