Space Mail Gone Missing
December 20th 2007 04:56
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Design rendition of the probe : image ESA
That's what students from the Netherlands where hoping to prove when their project, called YES2, was launched back in September this year, the project will act much like a pendulum.
Deployed in orbit from the European Space Agency's Foton M3 mission will be a 32km long tether with a capsule attached to the end. The capsule will swing back and forth, and will be released at the right angle to travel down to Earth, well that was the plan.
YES2, was piggybacked on a Foton-M3 capsule, was launched into space aboard a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
YES2 is a spire-like payload is made of three main components: A red ball-like payload called Fotino; a support system called MASS; and a spring-loaded mechanism called FLOYD. Ground controllers activated the package during Foton's final days in orbit suspended by a 32-kilometer (18.6-mile) tether.
The tether will swing like a pendulum and the cord was severed at the point of entry for a return to Earth.
The 12-pound (5.5 kilogram) payload contained a number of experiments unfortunately the experiment went arye when a critical telemetry sensors on the tether deployment mechanism shut down. That left the onboard computer unable to control how quickly the space tether unwound from its spool. Early data suggested the tether reached a length of just 5.3 miles (8.5 km) not the expected 30 km before cutting the Fotino capsule loose prematurely the payload was lost.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the people who read my blog and made comments I wish you all a very safe holiday season.
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