The Russian space agency has admitted that its attempt to launch the world's first solar sail spacecraft failed. It took just two minutes after launch for the Cosmos 1 vehicle to crash back to earth.
The flight was a joint effort between the Russian and American space agencies. Solar sails, which make fuel from the pressure of sunlight, may someday be able to allow for interstellar travel.
Unfortunately, the Volna booster rocket failed to work properly just 83 seconds after the rocket was released from a Russian nuclear submarine in the northern Barents Sea.
Vyacheslav Davidenko, a spokesman for the Russian space agency said that 'the booster's failure means that the solar sail vehicle was lost.' He added that the Russian navy has begun a search for debris from the booster and the vehicle.
The Cosmos 1 vehicle was supposed to last one month at an orbit of approximately 500 miles high. A controlled flight was to be attempted early next week. For now, those experiments will have to wait. There was no word as to when the next attempt at solar sails will be made.
