Nanosatellite Successfully Ejected from Free-Flying Microsatellite in Space

[n2doc]

ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2010) — On Dec. 6 at 1:31 a.m. EST, NASA for the first time successfully ejected a nanosatellite from a free-flying microsatellite. NanoSail-D ejected from the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite, FASTSAT, demonstrating the capability to deploy a small cubesat payload from an autonomous microsatellite in space.

anosatellites or cubesats are typically launched and deployed from a mechanism called a Poly-PicoSatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD) mounted directly on a launch vehicle. This is the first time NASA has mounted a P-POD on a microsatellite to eject a cubesat.

FASTSAT, equipped with six science and technology demonstration payloads, including NanoSail-D, launched Friday, Nov. 19 at 8:25 p.m. EST from Kodiak Island, Alaska. During launch, the NanoSail-D flight unit, about the size of a loaf of bread, was stowed inside FASTSAT in a P-POD.

"The successful ejection of NanoSail-D demonstrates the operational capability of FASTSAT as a cost-effective independent means of placing cubesat payloads into orbit safely," said Mark Boudreaux, FASTSAT project manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "With this first step behind us, we have demonstrated we can launch a number of different types of payloads using this common deployment system from an autonomous microsatellite like FASTSAT."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101206203246.htm

[Canuckistanian]

1. Nanosatellites are a great development

They allow smaller countries and universities access to space research at a reasonable cost.

And anything that makes it cheaper is a boon.

[qazplm]

2. then the nanosatellite

barfed out a femtosatellite!

[Nihil]

3. Cool! And just in time ...

... to be hit by the Geminids!

:hide: