Tags: FASTSat, NASA, Nanosail-D, Nanosatellite
Publication: Al.com
Publication Date: 11/26/2012

FASTSAT a small, microsatellite class spacecraft bus that successfully carried six experiment payloads to low-Earth orbit. Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Doug Stoffer

The Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSat) reached the end of its successful mission with a celebration at the Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The $10 million spacecraft had the size of a washing machine and it opened the possibility for short-term missions on similar small, low-cost satellites.

The FASTSat carried six science experiments on board such as the Nanosail-D, a mechanism to launch a nanosatellite from an orbiting satellite, and then unfold a lightweight 100-square-foot sail that would allow it to move through space and then facilitate re-entry.

Scientists were able to control and monitor their experiments from virtually any place with an Internet connection. The experiments continued operational for the whole two years the FASTSat was operational, more than twice their expected lifespan.

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