Dipjay,

"COSMOS 1 THE FIRST SOLAR SAIL"
The Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/index2.html

: On an autumn day later this year, deep beneath the surface of the
: Barents Sea, a Russian nuclear submarine will launch a single
: missile, left over from the old Soviet arsenal. Instead of a voyage
: of mass destruction, this rocket will be sent on a mission of hope
: for the future of humankind. It will launch on its way Cosmos 1 the
: first solar sail. The launch will be the culmination of the first
: international, privately funded space mission in history.

: A solar sail is a spacecraft without an engine - it is pushed along
: directly by light particles from the Sun, reflecting off it giant
: mirror-like sails. Because it carries no fuel and keeps
: accelerating over almost unlimited distances, it is the only
: technology now in existence that can one day take us to the stars!

: Although it has long been foreseen by both scientists and science-
: fiction authors, no solar sail has ever been built or launched
: - until now. Under the guidance of The Planetary Society and with
: funding from Cosmos Studios, veteran space scientists and engineers
: from the United States and Russia came together to turn this
: revolutionary technology into reality.

"The Planetary Society Solar Sail Project"
http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/missions/planetary_solar_sai.html

: The Planetary Society is developing and conducting a privately
: funded solar sail project with the Cosmos Studios. The spacecraft
: is being built in Russia by the Babakin Space Center under a
: contract to the Society. It will also be launched and operated from
: Russia.

: The approximately 100 kg spacecraft will be injected into a near
: circular 800 km orbit with an inclination to the Earth's equator of
: 78 degrees. Injection into orbit will be carried out by a TPS
: motor, adapted from a motor previously used for de-orbiting of
: payloads from Earth orbit. The principal data products from the
: mission will be imaging, although there will be on-board
: accelerometers to measure the non-gravitational force on the
: spacecraft. Two imaging systems will be used, one Russian
: developed, the other being developed in the US.

: The basic deployment and structural technology relies on an
: inflatable tube system to which the sail material will be attached.
: The 600 square meter sail will be configured in eight roughly
: triangular blades. The nominal sail material is 5 micron
: aluminized, reinforced mylar.

: Mission success is defined as flying long enough to measurably
: increase the orbital energy (or period) from sunlight pressure in
: controlled flight. This could be achieved within a few days of
: launch; although we hope to fly continuously raising the orbit
: energy for weeks or even months in orbit.

"A Bold New Voyage"
http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/missions/bold_new_voyage.html

: Solar sailing: A dream since Fredrich Tsander first wrote about the
: concept in 1924 – spacecraft without fuel travelling between the
: planets, and someday to the stars. I led the first NASA project
: attempting to develop a solar sail in the 1970s, when we wanted to
: rendezvous with Halley's Comet. That didn't happen; moving the
: space agencies to new technologies can be slow. Today both NASA
: and ESA have solar sailing development programs – but flights are
: not firmly planned.

: Solar sailing is the key first step to two concepts of the next
: century: interplanetary shuttle and interstellar flight. Flying
: back and forth between the planets either requires lots of fuel or
: a sail type spacecraft which uses no fuel but can tack back and:
: forth in interplanetary space without dependence on narrow
: planetary alignment geometries. This is the concept of the
: interplanetary shuttle.

"Sailing to the Stars"
http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/missions/sailing_tothe_stars.htm

: Reflecting photons against our giant metallized ultra-thin mirrors
: we will gain momentum in a continuous thrust which allow us to sail
: past the planets of our solar system in months, not years, and fly
: to the stars in years, not centuries.

: Space sailing is done not with wind – but with reflected light
: pressure, pushing on giant sails increasing the orbit energy and
: the spacecraft velocity continuously. Solar sailing uses sunlight
: pressure, powerful enough to push spacecraft between the planets
: from Mercury out to Jupiter. Beyond Jupiter, and out to the stars,
: the source of light must be powerful lasers focused over long
: distances in space. The lasers themselves will be powered by solar
: energy – keeping the spirit of solar sailing alive to other stars.

: The first solar sail flight will be a private venture – not a
: government one.

: And, if all goes well, laser sailing – the technology of
: interstellar flight – will also be demonstrated in another reversal
: of cold war technology: firing a laser from Earth at a spacecraft
: for peaceful purposes.

"The Mission"
http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/missions/the_mission.htm

: How will we know if we have been successful? Three ways. Tracking
: the spacecraft from Earth will allow us to calculate the orbit
: parameter, particularly the altitude and the energy. We will know
: if they are increasing. The spacecraft will have sensitive
: accelerometers to measure the solar pressure force – we will be able
: to feel the orbit energy increasing. And finally, we are going to
: have several cameras on board – hopefully beaming pictures back to
: all the people of Earth (on the web sites of Cosmos Studios and The
: Planetary Society), and we will see the sail deployed in space.

: We might also be able to see the sail from Earth – although only at
: particular times, depending on the orbit and the sail's position in
: the orbit.

: Precedents: First media space venture; First space organization
: venture; Submarine rocket launch to orbit; First solar sail flight
: attempt: Russian – American cooperation overcoming military and
: national security restrictive policies (we will be obeying the law,
: but must meet stringent bureaucratic licensing requirements by the
: Dept. of State); and a public open sharing of the drama of the
: mission development -- before, during and after flight.

Mark Reiff

--- In solarpowersatelliteplace@yahoogroups.com, Dipjay Sanchania
<dipjay35@y...> wrote:
> Dear Sir,
> I have received a mail containing news of launch of
> solar sail. I don't have much knowledge about it and I
> would like to know concept of `Solar sail'.
>
> If you have any knowledge about `Solar sail' please
> inform me.
> I am looking forward for positive hearing from you.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Dipjay Sanchania