FASTSAT

FASTSAT (USA-220)

Illustration of the FASTSAT microsatellite
Mission type	Technology
Operator	NASA / MSFC
COSPAR ID	2010-062D
SATCAT №	37225
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Dynetics[1]
Launch mass	500.0 kilograms (1,102.3 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	20 November 2010, 01:25:00 (2010-11-20UTC01:25Z) UTC
Rocket	Minotaur IV/HAPS
Launch site	Kodiak Pad 1
Contractor	Orbital Sciences
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Eccentricity	0.0017024
Perigee	628 kilometres (390 mi)
Apogee	652 kilometres (405 mi)
Inclination	71.9618 degrees
Period	93.55 minutes
RAAN	161.1230 degrees

Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite or FASTSAT, also known as USA 220^[2] is a NASA satellite that was launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, United States, on November 20, 2010^[1][3] on a Minotaur IV rocket. The mission's objective is to demonstrate the capability to build, design and test a microsatellite platform to enable researchers to conduct low-cost scientific and technology experiments on an autonomous satellite in space.^[4]

The satellite is intended to demonstrate technology for a new lower-cost microsatellite bus and, capable of carrying science, research and technology payloads. It carried experiments ranked #28, #55, #57, and #59 by the Space Experiments Review Board (SERB), which selects and prioritises experiments for US military research satellites. the Threat Detection System (TDS); Thermospheric Temperature Imager (TTI), Plasma Impedance Spectrum Analyzer (PISA), Miniature Imager for Neutral Ionospheric atoms and Magnetosphereic electrons (MINI-ME), a Miniature Star Tracker (MST), and NanoSail-D2.

Details

There were six experiments on the FASTSAT bus, including:

• NanoSail-D2: NanoSail was designed to demonstrate deployment of a compact solar sail boom system.^[5] Although NanoSail originally failed to eject from the FASTSAT as planned, two weeks after launch, on January 17, 2011, it ejected, and successfully deployed its sail three days later.
• Miniature Imager for Neutral Ionospheric Atoms and Magnetospheric Electrons (MINI-ME): The Miniature Imager for Neutral Ionospheric Atoms and Magnetospheric Electrons or MINI-ME, a low energy neutral atom imager, was designed to detect neutral atoms formed in the plasma population around Earth to improve global space weather prediction. Low energy neutral atom imaging is a technique first pioneered at Goddard Space Flight Center, that allows scientists to observe remotely various trapped charged particle populations around Earth that would normally only be able to be observed in-situ – or exactly where an instrument is located. MINI-ME represents an improvement on the same kind of instrument, LENA, that flew on the IMAGE mission about ten years ago. Measurements made by instruments like MINI-ME will enable more accurate prediction of space weather and a better understanding of plasma physics processes near Earth.^[6]
• Plasma Impedance Spectrum Analyzer (PISA): PISA was designed to test a new approach to measuring the electron number density (number of electrons per cubic centimeter) in the ionosphere. PISA uses a wide-band, rapid-sampling "impedance probe" technique, which stimulates the plasma surrounding FASTSAT with a short antenna. This technique identifies natural resonance frequencies in the plasma (such as the "plasma frequency"), which are directly related to the electron number density, magnetic field strength, and electron temperature. This approach is similar to striking a bell and using the tones created to deduce how the bell is constructed. PISA will demonstrate the accuracy of this technique, and provide measurements of small-scale structure in the plasma. These small scale structures are important because they tend to scatter radio waves transmitted by satellites at high altitudes such as GPS or communication satellites. A better understanding of when and where these structures form, and their extent, will help to improve forecasts of communication and navigation outages. PISA was built at Goddard Space Flight Center.^[6]
• Thermospheric Temperature Imager (TTI): TTI was designed to provide the first global-scale measurements of temperature in the top-most region of Earth’s atmosphere or "thermosphere". The TTI is used to observe thermospheric temperature profiles in the 90–260 km (56–162 miles) region. The temperature profile regulates the height of the atmosphere and controls the atmospheric density at orbital altitudes. Large increases in atmospheric density increase aerodynamic drag experienced by low altitude, Earth orbiting spacecraft leading to premature de-orbiting of the spacecraft.^[6]

References

External links

• Media related to FASTSAT at Wikimedia Commons