NASA\u2019s ST5 (Space Technology 5) \u2013 a batch of micro-satellites \u2013 is on schedule for a February launch date from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. <\/p>\n
The three ST5 satellites \u2013 not much larger than a portable television set \u2013 will be launched using a Pegasus XL to a near-Earth polar elliptical orbit that will take them to between from 300 kilometres to 4,500 kilometres above the Earth.\n<\/p>\n
The ST5 Project is an instrumental part of the New Millennium Program. The New Millennium Program was created by NASA to develop and test critical and revolutionary technologies needed to enable future endeavours in space. <\/p>\n Each flight acts as a \u2018test track\u2019 for its suite of technologies, mission objectives, operations concepts, and scientific goals. New Millennium is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018The team is very excited and we are still working hard as we approach our launch date,\u2019 said Art Azarbarzin, ST5 Project Manager at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). <\/font><\/p>\n The benefit of proving the micro-satellite technology works could open up the market for a new range of similar spacecraft, launched on much smaller \u2013 and thus cheaper \u2013 rockets. Each of the ST5 satellites has all the features of is full-sized cousin. <\/font><\/p>\n Once in orbit, the ST5 micro-satellites will be placed in a row about 40-140 km (about 25-90 miles) apart from each other to perform coordinated multi-point measurements of the Earth\u2019s magnetic field using a highly sensitive miniaturized magnetometer built by University of California, Los Angeles. <\/p>\n This type of measurement is useful for future Sun-Earth Connection missions that will study the effect of solar activity on the Earth\u2019s magnetosphere, a protective magnetic \u2018bubble\u2019 that surrounds the planet and helps protect it from harmful space radiation.<\/font><\/p>\n The Cold Gas Micro-Thruster (CGMT), built by Marotta Scientific Controls of Montville, New Jersey, will provide propulsion for orbit maintenance. <\/p>\n The X-Band Transponder Communication System, built by Aero Astro, will support two-way communications between the ST5 micro-satellites and the ground stations. <\/p>\n Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Lab, along with Sensortex, Kennett Square, Pa and SANDIA National Labs, built the Variable Emittance Coatings for Thermal Control, which will test the ability to configure the thermal characteristics of a radiator surface on the micro sat. <\/p>\n The University of Idaho, Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Bimolecular Research, provided the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Ultra-Low Power Radiation Tolerant (CULPRiT) Logic, which provides a low-power (operating at 0.5 V) digital-logic test circuit that will help reduce power requirements for future satellites. NASA\u2019s ST5 (Space Technology 5) \u2013 a batch of micro-satellites \u2013 is on schedule for a February launch date from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The three ST5 satellites \u2013 not much larger than a portable television set \u2013 will be launched using a Pegasus XL to a near-Earth polar elliptical orbit that will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/font>
Follow all unmanned missions on the specific section of the site\u2019s forum:
<\/em>http:\/\/forum.nasaspaceflight.com\/category-view.asp?catlock=7<\/em><\/font><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"