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----- Original Message -----
From: The Planetary Society
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 7:46 PM
Subject: Solar Sail Update - February 2005 February 2005 ******************** PROJECT DIRECTOR UPDATE A PRE-LAUNCH REVIEW by Louis Friedman In mid-January, our lead consultants, Harris M. (Bud) Schurmeier and James Cantrell, went with me to Moscow to review the final stages of testing Cosmos 1 and to judge when our solar sail spacecraft will be ready to fly. Flight components have all been delivered and thoroughly tested, and a full mission sequence has been simulated with the on-board computer. Our announced launch period of 1 March to 5 April 2005 has slipped a bit. We now project that Cosmos 1 will launch in April. The testing on the flight spacecraft has gone well, but some corrections and fixes have been required. To enhance reliability, extra precautions have been implemented in both the hardware and software of the spacecraft. We do not rule out other small slips if we take a few extra days here or there in flight preparations, testing or last-minute checks. Unlike launch windows for planetary missions, ours is not fixed by celestial mechanics, so we have much more leeway in setting a date . . Read the entire update at: http://planetary.org/solarsail/latest_update.html Feel free to send this newsletter on to your friends, colleagues, and family. ________________________________ You have been subscribed to The Planetary Society's Solar Sail e-mail update because, at some point in the past, you indicated a desire to receive additional information in this format. If you need to change your email address, please send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with Email Change - SS in the subject line. If you are interested in the future of planetary exploration, please contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with your thoughts, questions, and concerns. |
