Solar sail microsatellite feared lost
Posted: Sun, Dec 12, 2010, 10:43 AM ET (1543 GMT)
NASA officials said late Friday that it has not established contact with a small experimental solar sail satellite deployed earlier in the week, and is not even sure the satellite ejected from another spacecraft as planned. The NanoSail-D satellite was scheduled to deploy early Monday from another small satellite, FASTSAT, and deploy a solar sail three days later. However, satellite controllers have not established contact with NanoSail-D since the deployment, and project officials said in a statement Friday that they can't confirm the satellite actually was ejected from FASTSAT, despite telemetry data from the scheduled deployment that was "indicative" of a successful deployment. NanoSail-D, weighing only a few kilograms, is designed to deploy a 10-square-meter solar sail that would be used to adjust and eventually deorbit the satellite. The satellites were among several launched last month on a Minotaur 4 from Alaska.
NASA officials said late Friday that it has not established contact with a small experimental solar sail satellite deployed earlier in the week, and is not even sure the satellite ejected from another spacecraft as planned. The NanoSail-D satellite was scheduled to deploy early Monday from another small satellite, FASTSAT, and deploy a solar sail three days later. However, satellite controllers have not established contact with NanoSail-D since the deployment, and project officials said in a statement Friday that they can't confirm the satellite actually was ejected from FASTSAT, despite telemetry data from the scheduled deployment that was "indicative" of a successful deployment. NanoSail-D, weighing only a few kilograms, is designed to deploy a 10-square-meter solar sail that would be used to adjust and eventually deorbit the satellite. The satellites were among several launched last month on a Minotaur 4 from Alaska.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, September 17
Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites scheduled for Wednesday morning
KEYT-TV Santa Barbara, CA — 1:34 am ET (0534 GMT) Colorado Springs springs into action amid loss of Space Command
Washington Times — 1:34 am ET (0534 GMT) SpaceX rocket-launching license survives NEPA challenge
POLITICO — 1:30 am ET (0530 GMT) SpaceX Eyes First Starship Version 3 Launch In ’25 Or ’26
Aviation Week — 1:29 am ET (0529 GMT) Judge dismisses suit challenging SpaceX's Starship approval
Houston Chronicle — 1:28 am ET (0528 GMT) |
