Courtesyof the Planetary Society
Courtesyof the Planetary Society
The annitial launch in June will test the sail's deployment mechanism, which uses inflatable booms along with a breakthrough inflatable reentry shield the Russians have developed.(Engineering & Science #4) The 30-meter sail is configured in 8 triangular blades which will be deployed by inflatable tubes from a central spacecraft at the hub. Controlling the direction of the spacecraft will be made possible by pitching the giant blades which propel the craft. The final launch later in 2001 will launch to an altitude of 850 kilometers and is not aiming to actually launch to a distant location like Mars, but rather only to observe the affects of the suns photons on the sail.
As with any first mission this one entails risks, particularly in the deployment mechanism, in which the stowed sail will expand over a hundred-fold as it unfurls.(Engineering & Science #4) A preliminary launch had been originally scheduled for April, but an unspecified problem occurred in the craft and this lead to a postponement of the launch. In a personal interview with The Planetary Society Alan Pritchard, a UK graduate in Physics, described that there are inherent risks in solar sail design and material, such as crinkles in the material focussing too much sunlight in one spot thereby burning the mylar material, but also, he described, there are potential inherent benefits. In launching from a submerged submarine water will uncontrollably find its way onto the sail and in deployment give the spacecraft a boost from the rapid evaporation of water off the sail. Cont. . .1 2 3
