This statement was released by The Planetary Society at 13:30 EDT: "In the past twenty-four hours, the Russian space agency (RKA) has made a tentative conclusion that the Volna rocket carrying Cosmos 1 failed during the firing of the first stage. This would mean that Cosmos 1 is lost. While it is likely that this conclusion is correct, there are some inconsistent indications from information received from other sources. The Cosmos 1 team observed what appear to be signals, that looks like they are from the spacecraft when it was over the first three ground stations and some Doppler data over one of these stations. This might indicate that Cosmos 1 made it into orbit, but probably a lower one than intended. "The project team now considers this to be a very small probability. But because there is a slim chance that it might be so, efforts to contact and track the spacecraft continue. We are working with US Strategic Command to provide additional information in a day or so. "If the...

The Planetary Society's servers were slammed yesterday through the launch and aftermath of the Cosmos 1 mission, but the entries again available on Emily Lakdawalla's more or less official weblog make for grim reading this morning. For that matter, so does the silence that follows her post at 1915 EDT last night, saying that the search continued for Cosmos 1, but the ground stations that expected to receive the spacecraft's signal have come up empty. True, some signals have been detected, but are they the right ones? Project director Louis Friedman puts it this way: "That the weak signals were recorded at the expected times of spacecraft passes over the ground stations is encouraging, but in no way are they conclusive enough for us to be sure that they came from Cosmos 1 working in orbit." The Russian space agency indicated that the Volna rocket may have had a problem during its first or second stage firing. "This," Friedman noted, "would almost certainly have prevented the...

We're a little over a day from the Cosmos 1 solar sail launch, testing the technologies that may one day make travel within the inner Solar System faster and far more efficient. Centauri Dreams has discussed the involvement of Ann Druyan's Cosmos Studios; the documentary film and entertainment company put $4 million into the project, which is led by The Planetary Society. But it's also important to acknowledge the major Russian contribution, and not just in the Volna rocket that will launch the satellite, or the Russian submarine from which it will be fired. No, the Russian involvement is deeper still: the space firm NPO Lavochkin is behind much of the design of Cosmos 1, and the Russian Academy of Science's Space Research Institute is a major player. All told, Cosmos 1 is a case of trans-national collaboration, a fact emphasized by the scattering of team members around the globe as the launch approaches. The Planetary Society's Viktor Kerzhanovich is now in the Marshall Islands,...

As we near launch, let's run through the Cosmos 1 sail mission again. The vehicle is privately funded (by Ann Druyan's Cosmos Studios and The Planetary Society), and will be launched aboard a converted Russian ICBM. Once in orbit, the spacecraft will deploy eight mylar sails. The principle is straightforward: Photons have no mass but they do carry momentum. As solar photons strike the sail blades, Cosmos 1's orbit should change, providing a test of solar sailing that can be measured from the ground. A later microwave beaming experiment may be able to measure the effect beamed propulsion has on the spacecraft, though the primary mission goal remains to test the principles of solar sailing by photons alone. Launch is now scheduled for June 21 from a submerged Russian submarine in the Barents Sea. The mission will be controlled from the Lavochkin Association in Moscow and assisted by a project operations center at The Planetary Society's headquarters in Pasadena. Everyone will be...

We're closing in on the launch of the Cosmos 1 solar sail, the first free-flying spacecraft to be powered by the momentum of solar photons. Yes, there have been deployment experiments before this, such as the Russian Znamya missions and the Japanese deployment of a thin film just last summer. But Cosmos 1 will be a functioning spacecraft capable of returning data, and its launch thus marks an important first in sail development. The launch window opens on June 21. The spacecraft is to be launched into a near polar and circular 800 kilometer orbit, with sail deployment four days later. Cosmos 1 has been moved from the test facility in Moscow to Severomorsk; the plan calls for it to be launched by a converted Russian ICBM from a submerged submarine. If successful, the mission will be a landmark not only for sail propulsion but also for commercial space development. The vehicle was funded by Cosmos Studios, with donations from members of the Planetary Society, whose latest update on the...