Solar Sails: Catching the waves of the future

Image:Cosmos 1 (deployed); Construction series
Info: Solar Sail basics; NASA/JPL solar sail

Space.com ran a story this week about new solar sail material being tested at a NASA funded laboratory in Sandusky, Ohio. According to the story, NASA is keen on using the technology to power exploration at the fringe of the solar system and beyond:


The plastic-like fabric used to make the sails is a spin-off from technology used to develop spacecraft paint.
First missions -- scientific payloads of a few hundred pounds -- are likely to be to the inner planets, Venus and Mercury, and to the sun. But NASA scientists think the technology is a good bet for eventually powering spacecraft into deep space.
Since its fuel is free and doesn't have to be stored, a craft with solar sails would not have to slingshot around the moon or other planets for a gravity boost to reach distant destinations, as other craft do.
Craft propelled by solar sails could be launched on conventional rockets or released from space stations. In space, the force of sunlight would push the reflective sails, causing the craft to move, said NASA Marshall physicist Les Johnson.

An interstellar probe is certainly exciting news for NASA. Especially when you consider they are embracing a technology that was complete science fiction a decade ago. But there was no mention of Cosmos 1 in the story. That's the privately funded solar-sail powered spacecraft being launched in Russia this month by The Planetary Society. According to their Mission Homepage:

Cosmos 1 is part of a grand new age of exploration that is unfurling about us. This is not a government funded mission -- nor do we expect a huge cash prize at the end. This is a mission of true exploration, sponsored by Cosmos Studios, and supported by Members of The Planetary Society from all over the world. What do we expect? We expect to test a truly new type of technology – a Solar Sail Spacecraft. A technology that could some day take us to the stars.

Not a "government funnded mission" has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I wish them the best of luck with Cosmos 1.
Oh, and best of luck to NASA in catching up...