Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2005
CONTACT:
Contact: Susan Lendroth
Voice: (626) 793-5100
Fax: (626) 793-5528
Email: tps@planetary.org
Contact: Warren Betts
WBC/ZoomWerks Media
Voice: (626) 836-2080
Email: warren@zoomwerks.com
Contact: Kristin Albro
Cosmos Studios
Voice: (607) 256-0007
Email: kalbro@carlsagan.com
Worldwide Network to Track Solar Sail Spacecraft
NASA, NOAA Sign Agreements with The Planetary Society
To Receive Data From the Mission
Pasadena, CA, — From Moscow to the Marshall Islands,
from California to the Czech Republic, tracking stations around the world
will receive data from Cosmos 1, the world's first solar sail spacecraft,
after it launches on June 21, 2005. The innovative solar sail,
a project of The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios, was built in Russia
and will launch atop a converted ICBM from a submerged Russian submarine
in the Barents Sea.
The data obtained during the flight of Cosmos 1 will help the world community
analyze and develop future solar sail technologies. The Russian Space
Agency, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the United States Air Force, and
the Space Sciences Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley
are among the organizations that will track the sail. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Institute of Atmospheric
Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic will also be part
of the global consortium that will comprise the tracking network. The
US Strategic Command's Space Surveillance Network will track Cosmos 1 and
provide supplementary tracking data to the mission's own tracking network,
should it be needed during the mission. A list of tracking stations
is available at planetary.org/solarsail/tracking_stations.html.
The mission will be controlled from the Lavochkin Association in Moscow. A
project operations center will be located at The Planetary Society in Pasadena,
California.
Both NASA and NOAA have design concepts for solar sail missions. They
have signed agreements with The Planetary Society to receive technological
data from the Cosmos 1 mission in support of their programs. The
no-exchange-of-funds agreements provide data for the space agencies in
return for tracking and operations support to the Society.
"The data from this historic flight is critical because solar sailing
is a technology that holds so much promise for humanity's future in space. If
successful, this technology may change the way we explore space," said
Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society and Cosmos
1 Project Director.
All the major space agencies have solar sailing programs, but none has planned
an actual space mission using the technology. Russia and Japan
have conducted in-space deployment tests, while NASA and ESA have developed
and tested solar sail systems on the ground. But Cosmos 1 is the first
attempt to actually sail under sunlight pressure.
Cosmos 1 was financed by Cosmos Studios, a privately owned science-based
entertainment company. The spacecraft was built by the Lavochkin Association
and the Space Research Institute in Russia. The Russian space organizations
are also investing in mission support to advance their own space sailing ambitions. The
Russians have built this new, lightweight spacecraft and utilized a low-cost
launch system in a bid to develop a new series of scientific spacecraft.
During the first orbit after launch, two additional portable stations set
up in Majuro, Marshall Islands and Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka will provide valuable
initial data on the spacecraft. Cosmos 1 will be tracked from the ground
through its radio system and an on-board GPS system and micro-accelerometer.
Solar Sail Watch, a program designed for the general public, will invite
people around the world to lend their help in tracking Cosmos 1 and photographing
its progress across the night sky. Once its sails unfurl, Cosmos 1 will
be bright enough to be easily visible to the naked eye. The Planetary
Society and Cosmos Studios urge everyone to witness this historic mission
first hand.
One particularly interesting "watch" will come from the United
States Air Force Maui Optical & Supercomputing Site (AMOS) in Hawaii,
which will attempt to image the sail as soon as possible after deployment.
"High resolution pictures from Earth," notes Friedman, "could
be as beautiful as photos of sailboats in the ocean taken from shore."
The Clay Center Observatory at Dexter and Southfield Schools in Brookline,
Massachusetts also will image the spacecraft from the ground. This school
provided the dramatic pictures of Spaceship 1 in flight on September 29
and October 4, 2004 when it carried out the first privately funded human
space flight.
About the Planetary Society
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, The Planetary Society has inspired
millions of people to explore other worlds and seek other life. Today,
its international membership makes the non-governmental Planetary Society
the largest space interest group in the world. Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray
and Louis Friedman founded The Planetary Society in 1980. Learn more about
The Planetary Society by exploring our innovative
projects.
About Cosmos Studios
Cosmos Studios was founded in 2000 by Ann Druyan, Joe Firmage and Kent Gibson,
to create science-based entertainment designed to engage the broadest possible
television, film and Internet audience. Among its achievements thus far
are the DVD of the epochal 13-part television series COSMOS and the documentary
films 'COSMIC AFRICA" and "COSMIC JOURNEY," which was nominated
for the Emmy Award for the best long form science documentary in 2004. Cosmos
Studios is based in Ithaca, New York.
The Planetary Society
65 N. Catalina Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106-2301 USA
Web: www.planetary.org
Voice: (626) 793-5100
Fax: (626) 793-5528
Email: tps@planetary.org
Cosmos Studios
17 Observatory Circle
Ithaca, NY 14850-2950
Web: www.solarsail.org
Voice: (607) 256-0007
Fax: (607) 256-0066
Email: quick@carlsagan.com
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