MOSCOW -- Russia's ambitious plan to bounce the sun's light to dark corners of the Earth has run into a problem. A big problem.
Cosmonauts on Thursday were unable to unfurl the giant mirror being used in the experiment, leaving the Russian north facing another cold February night without artificially reflected light from the heavens.
"There is an emergency situation. The mirror is not unfolding," Mir Mission Control spokesman Vsevolod Latyshev announced. He added that the crew would continue trying to open the reflective umbrella. The glitch happened aboard the Progress resupply ship, which undocked from Mir earlier on Thursday.
At 3:34 a.m. PST the two-man crew aboard Mir sent a command to Progress to unfold the 25-meter Mylar mirror, but minutes later they told commanders on Earth the umbrella was entangled with the supply ship's antennae.
The goal of the day-long Znamya 2.5 test was to see if huge orbiting mirrors can shatter the long wintertime darkness of the Russian north, or illuminate construction sites, disaster areas, or wherever else light is needed, officials say.
Designers say a series of mirrors or one giant mirror could harness the sun to overcome darkness and even help boost agriculture by lengthening the day.
A light spot about 4 miles in diameter was expected to be visible in parts of Europe and in Canada.
Copyright© 1999 Reuters Limited.
