Through innovative ventures such as the Mars Microphone and the Solar Sail, The Planetary Society leads by examples. It also aims to participate and promote ambitious projects like Mars exploration. Here are some of its notable experiments:
The Solar Sail:
The Planetary Society, in collaboration with Cosmos Studios, built the first Solar Sail named Cosmos 1. The Solar Sail is a spacecraft that relies on the sun’s light particles, photons, to soar into space. The Cosmos 1 spacecraft was designed to rocket into space from a Volna rocket launched from a submarine. The main intention of this project was to prove that solar sailing was possible. Because a solar sail does not depend on an engine but on sunlight, it can accelerate for unlimited distances. It is one of the most viable technologies that can take astronauts to distant stars.
Cosmos 1 was launched on June 21, 2005 from the Borisoglebsk submarine of the Russian Northern Fleet. Unfortunately, the first stage of the Volna rocket failed and Cosmos 1 did not enter orbit. But, it did not end the Planetary Society’s commitment to flying the first solar sail. Currently, the organization is planning to re-launch its project soon. Cosmos 1 is still regarded as one of the best innovations to date. It has also being revered as one of America’s 100 best innovations by the Readers Digest.
The Life Experiment: Phobos Project:
The LIFE (Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment) Experiment will unravel the mystery of the “Transpermia” hypothesis—that life can transfer from planet to planet if rocks (filled with living organisms) blasted off from one planetary surface, due to a meteoric impact, land on another planetary surface.
The experiment conducted by the Planetary Society will test whether life survives the interplanetary voyage and it will take the help of the Russian Space agency to do so. You can learn in-depth information about the experiment in this special article by the Planetary Society.
The “Drive a Mars Rover” Project:
The project enables web users to experience the explorations of unknown planets through the perspective of a robotic rover. The “Drive a Mars Rovers” project involves a network of Mars station lookalikes around the world. Each station has a LEGO rover that’s equipped with a web cam. Web users can connect to the rover and drive the rovers to view a simulated Martian environment.
The Planetary Society teamed up with the famous toymaker LEGO Company to create a network of Mars stations and robotic rovers.
The Mars Microphone Project:
The Mars Microphone project began in 1996. The entire project was donated by the members of the Planetary Society. The main aim was to send microphones to planets like Mars and record various ambient noises on the planetary surfaces and then broadcast it to the public after returning. The Planetary Society had already sent a microphone to planet Mars in 1999 via NASA’s Mars Polar Lander, but unfortunately the spacecraft carrying the microphone crashed. Still, the Society plans another Mars Microphone to be on board a spacecraft to Mars in the near future.
