Skywatchers take note.

[AlecWest]

Tomorrow at 3:46 PM EST, a privately-funded solar-sail spacecraft dubbed Cosmos I will be launched atop a converted Soviet ICBM from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea. If the launch is successful and the solar sail is successfully deployed, it should be visible to the naked eye in the night sky. Here are the particulars on where to watch for it:

http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/watch/guide.html

You'll have to extrapolate from that guide, though. They'd originally planned to launch on March 1st ... but had to delay the launch.

[BJ_M]

hopefully some country doesnt shoot it down in their star wars missle defense program .

[lumis]

...I will be launched atop a converted Soviet ICBM from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea.

suuuuure ya will.

[reboot]

But wouldn't that be a blast!

[AlecWest]

...I will be launched atop a converted Soviet ICBM from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea.

suuuuure ya will.

You must be in politics, hehe. Dropping the "Cosmos" from "Cosmos I" and leaving the "I" intact is a great out-of-context ploy. :P

[AlecWest]

edit

[lumis]

...I will be launched atop a converted Soviet ICBM from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea.

suuuuure ya will.

You must be in politics, hehe. Dropping the "Cosmos" from "Cosmos I" and leaving the "I" intact is a great out-of-context ploy. :P

i was taught by the dark lord himself, karl rove

[BJ_M]

So Some country did shoot it down I guess, they can not even find it now ...


At the very same time a U2 spy plane crashed --- hmmmm ?

[stiltman]

It died
http://news.com.com/Solar+sails+launch+went+awry%2C+Russia+says/2100-7337_3-5757254.ht...l?tag=nefd.top

[BJ_M]

might still be alive , though

A spokesman for the Russian Space Agency said they could not determine whether Cosmos 1 had crashed to earth or was in orbit.

makes you really wonder at the tracking abilities and a few other things ..

[stiltman]

However it did not reach the proper orbit, so without any booster rockets, it is dead now or shortly.

[BJ_M]

it is supposed be able to fly -- so fly it

[stiltman]

True, I guess they could at least test to see if the solor wings deploy. Prolly just burn up real quick though

[AlecWest]

I suppose this is what they (Planetary Society) get for trying to launch the thing on-the-cheap ... from a converted ICBM launched from a sub. If they try it again, it would probably be a better idea to "beg" a future shuttle mission to just take it up into space and "put" it in orbit.

[AlecWest]

So Some country did shoot it down I guess, they can not even find it now ...

At the very same time a U2 spy plane crashed --- hmmmm ?

Maybe it crashed into the U2 (or vice-versa). Odd that, with the SR71 and spy satellites, they're actually still flying U2 missions. The planes first came online 50 years ago.

[BJ_M]

they are using U2R's and U2S's now , which are larger (30-40%) than the U2's which flew in the 60s ..

The first U2 generation planes were very unsafe and 90% crashed or were shot down (really - the number is that high) .

Spy sats have three problems. one they are on a fixed sweep of the sky and two , they are predictable when they will be overhead and third, cloud cover can create an issue ..

Even the new generation U2's have had several crash ..