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A tiny asteroid explorer that launched on NASA's moon mission last week still hasn't phoned home. Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout was one of 10 cubesats that hitched a ride to space on NASA's Artemis 1 mission, which launched on Nov. 16. The spacecraft was designed to sail on sunlight to fly past a small asteroid dubbed 2020 GE about a year from now. NEA Scout personnel are hoping that the spacecraft's unusual propulsion strategy could help them track down the cubesat. Packed into the small satellite was a reflective, silvery solar sail that unfolds to 924 square feet (86 square...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As NASA's exploration continues to push boundaries, a new solar sail concept selected by the agency for development toward a demonstration mission could carry science to new destinations. The Diffractive Solar Sailing project was selected for Phase III study under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. Phase III aims to strategically transition NIAC concepts with the highest potential impact for NASA, other government agencies, or commercial partners. "As we venture farther out into the cosmos than ever before, we'll need innovative, cutting-edge technologies to drive our missions," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "The...

The Planetary Society solar sail team is working to try again to fly the world’s first solar sail spacecraft. With a tested spacecraft design, almost all flight components available, and at least two attractive launch vehicle possibilities, we are well positioned to reach our goal. We’ve made considerable progress: Our Lavochkin/Space Research Institute team in Russia has identified two promising and affordable launch vehicles candidates for our spacecraft. The Soyuz rocket with a Fregat upper stage successfully launched the European Space Agency’s Mars Express and Venus Express, among other missions. Soyuz is the reliable workhorse of Russian rockets and, with...

NASA engineers and their industry partners have successfully deployed two 400-square-meter solar sails during ground testing. This is a critical milestone in the development of a unique propulsion technology that uses the Sun to propel vehicles through space. Solar sail propulsion technologies bounce sunlight off giant, reflective sails made of lightweight material 40 to 100 times thinner than a piece of writing paper. The continuous pressure provides sufficient thrust to perform spacecraft maneuvers, such as hovering at a fixed point in space or rotating the vehicle's position in orbit, which would in some cases require too much propellant for conventional...

While still trying to sort out precisely what happened to its Cosmos-1 solar sail spacecraft, the Planetary Society hopes to be able to build and launch another solar sail by the end of next year, according to Director Louis Friedman. "We're going to make plans to try and do Cosmos-1 again and to have another attempt at flying the first solar sail mission," Friedman told The DAILY. "We have a lot of ground spares and we could probably build a spacecraft fairly quickly ... maybe in a year." Cosmos-1 was lost June 21 when its Volna rocket failed shortly after...

Molniya rocket crash will not cancel solar sail launch -- Defense Ministry21:10 MOSCOW, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - The failure of a Molniya carrier rocket launched from Russia's Plisetsk Space Center on Tuesday to orbit a military satellite will not delay the launch from a Russian submarine of a unique spacecraft, Kosmos-1, which is equipped with a "solar sail". "The launch of the Volna converted ballistic missile is scheduled for 23:46 (Moscow time) June 21, and will be carried out from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea," a Russian Defense Ministry representative told RIA Novosti. Kosmos-1 is the world's...

Russian sailors launched the world's first solar sail from a nuclear submarine today as planned, but the Cosmos 1 craft's fate remains unknown after the first set of ground station passes turned up no sign of the small satellite. Casting further doubt, the Russian news service ITAR-TASS reported the rocket's first stage failed 83 seconds after liftoff. Confirmation of that story is pending.

MOSCOW (Interfax) -- A strategic nuclear-powered submarine in service with the Northern Fleet (Project 667, Delta IV under NATO classification) has gone to sea and taken position to launch the Volna carrier rocket with a solar sail. "The submarine has taken a position specified in the Barents Sea," a source in the Russian Navy General Staff told Interfax. According to him, the rocket is to be launched on Wednesday night (3:46 p.m. June 21 EDT). At the same time he did not rule out the feasibility of postponing the launch in light of the failed launch of the Molniya-M carrier...

A milestone making space mission is, quite factually, ready to set sail. The privately sponsored Cosmos-1 solar sail is to fly into Earth orbit courtesy of a boost from a Russian Volna rocket, deployed from a Russian nuclear submarine positioned in the Barents Sea. The submarine-launched rocket, carrying the solar sail is targeted for liftoff on June 21 at 3:46 p.m. EDT. The Volna rocket being tapped to toss Cosmos 1 into a roughly 500 mile (800 kilometer) circular, near polar orbit is a converted ballistic missile of the type once armed and aimed at the United States. Cosmos 1’s...

After years of false starts, disappointment and delay, one of spaceflight's brightest hopes could be about to take to the skies. Cosmos 1, the world's first solar sailing ship, could be launched from a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea in two weeks. On June 21, if all goes well, a Soviet Volna rocket originally designed to deliver nuclear warheads will push a 100kg (220lb) American-designed spacecraft to an orbit 500 miles high. The payload will open and like the petals of a flower, eight huge triangular blades 15 metres long will unfurl to reflect the rays of the...

The Planetary Society, a U.S. nonprofit group devoted to space exploration, plans to launch the world's first solar sail spacecraft as early as June 21. Cosmos 1 will be launched from a submerged Russian submarine in the Barents Sea and carried into orbit by a converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Initially orbiting the Earth at an altitude of about 500 miles (800 kilometers), the spacecraft will gradually move outward by solar sailing—propelled by the pressure of light particles from the sun striking the craft's eight triangular sails. The journey has no destination. The mission's goal is simply to prove that...

A wait in excess of four years is almost over for scientists and engineers eagerly awaiting launch of the first test flight of a revolutionary solar sail. The spacecraft has been shipped from its factory to a port in far northern Russia to undergo final preparations for its submarine launch next month.

CNN) -- A solar sail that scientists believe could power missions into deep space has passed its first major test.

ATK and NASA Successfully Test First Solar Sail Propulsion System ATK Solar Sail Technology Will Enable Solar-powered Interplanetary Probes and Solar Observatories Minneapolis, May 6, 2005 – Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) and NASA have successfully tested the functional deployment and attitude control of an ultra-lightweight, high-performing solar sail propulsion system. This was the first in a series of ground-tests for ATK’s sailcraft technology that will be conducted through July. All initial test objectives were met. The test marks a critical milestone in developing an alternative in-space propulsion technology that uses the sun’s energy instead of onboard propellant to provide thrust....

A novel propulsion concept under study at the University of Washington, Seattle, with NASA funding. M2P2 would use the solar wind to accelerate a spacecraft by pushing on a miniature version of Earth’s magnetosphere generated by the craft. The injection of plasma from the Sun into an artificially generated magnetic field would drag the magnetic field lines out and form a bubble some 30-60 km in diameter, depending on the strength of field that the spacecraft produced. An engine using this technology is estimated to be 10-20 times more efficient than the Space Shuttle Main Engine. With a bottle of...

NASA engineers and their industry partners are preparing to test two 20-meter (66-feet) long solar sail propulsion system designs -- a critical milestone in development of a unique propulsion technology using the Sun's energy that could lead to future deep space missions. The systems tests, scheduled for April through July, will be conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. Drawing energy from the Sun, much the way the wind pushes sailboats across water, solar sail propulsion provides the "fuel" for a spacecraft to travel through space. The technology bounces a stream of solar energy...

The Planetary Society's oft-delayed Cosmos 1 solar sail is finally on the verge of launching on its test mission to validate the practicality of a revolutionary propulsion method that relies on sunlight instead of chemical rocket fuels

The Cosmos 1 team announced today that the world's first solar sail spacecraft will be set for launch on March 1, 2005 from a submerged submarine in the Barents Sea. Cosmos 1 - a project of The Planetary Society - is sponsored by Cosmos Studios. "With the spacecraft now built and undergoing its final checkout, we are ready to set our launch date," said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society and Project Director of Cosmos 1 ."The precedent-setting development of the first solar sail spacecraft has had its ups and downs like a roller coaster ride, but now...

Before the year's end, a team of civilians united by a passion for space travel will launch a spacecraft into orbit to test a new space-traveling technology. The mission, which will use a solar sail to carry a spacecraft ever farther from Earth, is the first use of a propulsion technology that may pave the way for interstellar flights. "Our job is just to prove this technology," project director Louis Friedman told SPACE.com. "If our craft goes just 10 kilometers on the solar sail, then it's a success." Friedman is also executive director of the Pasadena-based Planetary Society.