Picosats Snap A Shot of DiscoveryTwo miniature experimental
satellites called
Picosats that were developed by The Aerospace Corporation were launched Dec. 20 from
space Shuttle Discovery (STS-116) as part of a series of experiments to test the possibility of using small, onboard, on-call “inspector satellites.”The picosats snapped a shot of Discovery just after they were ejected from the shuttle via a spring-loaded launcher, also built by Aerospace.The two picosats, dubbed MEPSI for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based Pico sat inspector, each 4-by-4-by-5 inches and tethered together, began a 10-day
mission to explore the feasibility of using very small satellites to inspect "mother" ships, assess damage or anomalies, and provide feedback to
Satellite operators. The technology could also be used to monitor and verify the motions of complicated host satellite deployable, providing invaluable feedback to engineers and assurance to mission managers.Each satellite weighs just over one kilogram, or 2.2 pounds. They both carry cameras and one has a propulsion capability. In addition to gathering photos, the mission will include communication with ground stations at The Aerospace Corporation's headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., and at the SRI station at Menlo Park, Calif. The mission is a follow-up to a similar experimental mission—a first attempt but with less capability—conducted in December 2002 from Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-113).The Aerospace Corporation has been developing miniature satellites since 1999, having formally advanced the concept of Nano satellites in a paper at the 44th International Astronautical Federation Congress in Graz, Austria, in 1993. That paper introduced the concept of nanosatellites, which are slightly larger than picosats, and notionally described how to build, power, and use them.The Aerospace Corporation’s first picosats were smaller and less capable. They were successfully deployed from a micro satellite—the Stanford University Orbiting Picosat Automated Launcher, or OPAL—in February 2000. They remain the smallest operational satellites ever flown in space. Cousins of those early picosats were also flown aboard the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Mighty
sat 2.1, which launched in July 2000 and released the picosats into orbit one year later, in September 2001.The camera systems on the STS-116 picosats originated as an Engineering Clinic project at Harvey Mud College funded through The Aerospace Corporation's Corporate University Affiliates Program. The Pico sat flights on Mighty Sat 2.1, Endeavour, and Discovery were facilitated by participation in the U.S. Air Force Space Test Program, established to provide experimental flight opportunities for Defense Department research-and-development activities.
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