Planned Mission Profile
To test the solar sail concept, the Cosmos 1 project launched an orbital spacecraft with a full complement of eight sail blades on June 21, 2005 — the summer solstice. The spacecraft had a mass of 100 kg (220 lb) and consisted of eight triangular sail blades which would be deployed from a central hub after launch by the inflating of structural tubes. The sail blades were each 15 m long, had a total surface area of 600 square meters, and were made of aluminized reinforced PET film (MPET).
The spacecraft was launched on a Volna rocket (a converted SS-N-18 ICBM) from a Russian Delta III submarine, the Borisoglebsk, submerged in the Barents Sea. The spacecraft's initial circular orbit would have been at an altitude of about 800 km, where it would have unfurled the sails. The sails would then have gradually raised the spacecraft to a higher earth orbit. "Cosmos 1 might boost its orbit 31 to 62 miles over the expected 30-day life of the mission," said Louis Friedman of the Planetary Society.
The mission was expected to end within a month of launch as the mylar of the blades would degrade in sunlight.
Read more about this topic: Cosmos 1
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