Session
Technical Session VI: Small but Mighty
Abstract
Three years from its initial design review, NanoSail-D successfully deployed its sail on January20th, 2011. It became the first solar sail vehicle to orbit the earth and the second sail everunfurled in space.The NanoSail-D mission had two main objectives: eject a nanosatellite from a microsatellite;deploy its sail from a highly compacted volume and low mass system to validate large structuredeployment and potential de-orbit technologies. These objectives were successfully achievedand the de-orbit analysis is in process. This paper presents an overview of the NanoSail-D project and insights into how potentialsetbacks were overcome. Many lessons have been learned during these past three years and arediscussed in light of the phenomenal success and interest that this small satellite has generated.NanoSail-D was jointly designed and built by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center andNASA's Ames Research Center. ManTech/NeXolve Corporation also provided key sail designsupport. The NanoSail-D experiment is managed by Marshall and jointly sponsored by the ArmySpace and Missile Defense Command, the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation andDynetics Inc. Ground operations support was provided by Santa Clara University, with radiobeacon packets received from amateur operators around the world.
Presentation Slides
NanoSail-D: The Small Satellite That Could!
Three years from its initial design review, NanoSail-D successfully deployed its sail on January20th, 2011. It became the first solar sail vehicle to orbit the earth and the second sail everunfurled in space.The NanoSail-D mission had two main objectives: eject a nanosatellite from a microsatellite;deploy its sail from a highly compacted volume and low mass system to validate large structuredeployment and potential de-orbit technologies. These objectives were successfully achievedand the de-orbit analysis is in process. This paper presents an overview of the NanoSail-D project and insights into how potentialsetbacks were overcome. Many lessons have been learned during these past three years and arediscussed in light of the phenomenal success and interest that this small satellite has generated.NanoSail-D was jointly designed and built by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center andNASA's Ames Research Center. ManTech/NeXolve Corporation also provided key sail designsupport. The NanoSail-D experiment is managed by Marshall and jointly sponsored by the ArmySpace and Missile Defense Command, the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation andDynetics Inc. Ground operations support was provided by Santa Clara University, with radiobeacon packets received from amateur operators around the world.
