Cosmos 1, the deeply unimaginative name notwithstanding (the Japanese called their first satellite “Chrysanthemum,” I recall), is my kind of space

program: Unmanned, low-budget, privately-funded (mostly), innovative. The idea is to get a satellite into orbit, unfurl a huge mylar sail from it, then use pressure from sunlight on the sail to get a tiny but steady acceleration going. By the time it gets to Jupiter, the thing is clipping along at 100,000 mph. Well, we thought Cosmos 1 had been lost after launch, but now it seems to have been located.

Good

luck to them for success in this mission.

This is the kind of real, exciting space exploration that the huge, horrible, pointless, giga-expensive, gummint-managed Space Shuttle program has crowded out. Down with NASA!