Satnews Daily
December 13th, 2010

NASA — NanoSail-D May Be A NaughtSail (Satellite)


[SatNews] A most disappointing realization has begun to sink in at NASA that the NanoSail-D project that was part of the FASTSAT satellite project on December 6th may not be as successful as initially believed.

From NASA's website comes the following statement...

"At this time, it is not clear that NanoSail-D ejected from the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSAT) as originally stated on Monday, Dec. 6. At the time of ejection, spacecraft telemetry data showed a positive ejection as reflected by confirmation of several of the planned on orbit ejection sequence events. The FASTSAT spacecraft ejection system data was also indicative of an ejection event. NanoSail-D was scheduled to unfurl on Dec. 9 at 12:30 a.m., and deployment hasn't been confirmed. The FASTSAT team is continuing to trouble shoot the inability to make contact with NanoSail-D. The FASTSAT microsatellite and all remaining five onboard experiments continue to operate as planned."

More when we learn more!