How a solar sail space craft could look in the future
22 June 2005 -- Russia's space agency said today the world's first solar sail space craft was lost due to the failure of a booster rocket during launch.
Vyacheslav Davidenko, a spokesman for Russia's space agency, says the booster failed 83 seconds after its launch from a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea. He said that means the solar sail craft was lost.
The space agency has launched a search mission to recover the debris.
U.S. scientists earlier today said that they thought they might have detected signals from the spacecraft.
The Cosmos-1 was designed to test possibilities of using the pressure of sunrays as a means of propulsion for spacecraft.
(Agencies)
See also:
Solar-Sail Space Craft Ready For Maiden Voyage
The space agency has launched a search mission to recover the debris.
U.S. scientists earlier today said that they thought they might have detected signals from the spacecraft.
The Cosmos-1 was designed to test possibilities of using the pressure of sunrays as a means of propulsion for spacecraft.
(Agencies)
See also:
Solar-Sail Space Craft Ready For Maiden Voyage