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Image credits: NASA / Emmett Given
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New York, June 30 (IBNS): NASA's Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, a small satellite designed to study near-Earth asteroids, conducted a successful deployment test on June 28 on the Solar Mission Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1).
The test was performed in an indoor clean room at the NeXolve facility in Huntsville, Alabama.
NEA Scout is a six-unit CubeSat based on an innovative solar sail for propulsion. This is one of 13 scientific payloads selected by NASA to fly on EM-1. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, EM-1 will be the first integrated test of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, NASA's Orion spacecraft and the new Kennedy Ground Exploration System. Space Center in Florida. In addition to testing these integrated systems, this first flight will also offer the rare opportunity for these small experiments to reach destinations in deep space, conduct scientific missions and test key technologies at the same time. Low Earth Orbit
The energy of the sun to fly into space was once considered impossible, "said Joe Matus, NEA Scout Project Manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center from NASA to Huntsville, Alabama. "During this decade we have seen innovations and progress on this promising technology and the NEA Scout is another step in the use of solar sails to explore our solar system.This team worked very hard to make this technology a reality, and knowing that the sail we just tested will be the real veil that propels the NEA Scout into the space is very exciting and testifies knowledge and abilities of our team. 19659006] NEA Scout will deploy from the rocket after the Orion spacecraft is separated from the upper stage. Once deployed, the sail, which is square in shape, with each side of the length of a school bus, will use sunlight as a propulsion to move in space. Instead of wind, solar sails reflect sunlight for thrust, minimizing the need for fuel. This method reduces the size and weight of the spacecraft, resulting in cost savings.
The NEA Scout solar sail will deploy from the spacecraft with the help of four arms – called booms – to maintain the sail, like a sail on a
After deployment, the Satellite will visit an asteroid and fly over it, collecting photographic data that will help scientists better understand not only the asteroid itself, but also the risks and challenges that future human exploration missions might meet. "In the latest testing of our technical test unit, we have made improvements to the spacecraft's sail deployment system," said Tiffany Lockett, Marshall's NEA Scout System Engineer. This test is the first and only time that the sail will be deployed before it flies on EM-1, so we had to make sure that the system would work properly. We badyze the test data to ensure that the deployment system has worked as expected, before final badembly into the spacecraft and delivery for launch. "
Solar sails can not run out of fuel while the sun is shining – propelling the spacecraft farther and faster than some traditional propulsion technologies – spacecraft like NEA Scout are the next step towards more solar sails large and more efficient that can take our scientific instruments further into the solar system, allowing NASA's new scientific and exploration missions
Advanced Exploration Systems with the support of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena in California and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia AES infuses new technologies developed by NASA's Space Mission Directorate and partners in the Science Missions Directorate to address unknowns and mitigate crew risks and systems during future missions of human exploration. (d, s, id) {
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