FASTSat-HSV

FASTSat-HSV01

USAF

Spacecraft n°:

US spacecraft n°:

Also called: USA 220

Launch data:

Designation	37225 / 10062D
Launch date	20 Nov 2010 - 01:25 UT
Launch site	Kodiak, LP-1
Launch vehicle	Minotaur-4 HAPS
Mission	Technique
Earth orbit on Dec 5.55:
Perigee / Apogee	626 x 654 km
Eccentricity	0.002
Inclination	71.97 deg
Period	97.52 min

First flight version rocket

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor	NASA-Marshall
Platform
Operator
Mass at launch	148 kg
Dry Mass	kg
Basic shape
Dimension (m)
Equipment
Solar array
Stabilization
Propulsion
DC power
Design lifetime

Comments:

This NASA craft (short for Fast, Affordable Science and Technology Satellite) weighs about 325 pounds (148 kilograms) and is about the size of a washing machine It's part of a broader NASA effort to find ways to perform research in space cheaply and reliably.
FASTSAT is carrying six different scientific experiments. One of those is a smaller satellite called NanoSail-D, an 3.9 kg probe designed to eject from FASTSAT and deploy a solar sail in orbit. Solar sails catch photons from the sun much as ships' sails catch the wind. NanoSail-D will use its solar sail to deorbit itself, potentially demonstrating a new way to bring satellites and debris back to Earth without any chemical propellant.
Also onboard FASTSAT are three NASA instruments designed to monitor space weather, as well as two payloads managed by the U.S. Air Force. One is a low-cost star-tracking instrument, and the other is a device that will evaluate techniques used to measure how beams of light move through Earth's atmosphere.

Mission details:

Fastsat-HSV was developed by NASA-Marshall and companies in Huntsville, Alabama and carries ionospheric and atmospheric experiments, a USAF experiment, and the Nanosail-D2 which will be ejected in about a week to deploy a 3-meter-size solar sail.

Ref.: #7(JR635), #206, #228, #245 - update: 20.01.11