Cygnus OA-8 (CRS-8 ) - Antares-230 - MARS LP-0A - 12.11.1017 12:19 UTC

[Spacetourist]

tnt22 пишет:

Randy Bresnik ‏Подлинная учетная запись @ AstroKomrade 22 мин. назад

S.S. Gene Cernan # Cygnus # OA8 cargo vehicle is unberthed fr om @ Space_Station wh ere it has called home for the past 3 weeks.
 
 

Robotic experts on Earth remotely fly the robotic arm to maneuver # Cygnus to what we call the 'overnight park' position for tomorrow's release.
 

Совершенно роскошные фотографии. Хоть сейчас в рамку и на стену.

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/cygnus-oa-8-cargo-craft-departs-iss/

Cygnus OA-8 Cargo Craft Departs ISS after Three-Week Stay for CubeSat Deployment & Re-Entry
December 6, 2017


Photo: NASA

After delivering over 3,200 Kilograms of cargo to the International Space Station, the Cygnus S.S. Gene Cernan departed the orbiting complex on Wednesday to close out a three-week stay and 24 hours of detailed radio interference testing to aid future crew vehicles arriving and departing the orbiting laboratory. Being released at 13:11 UTC, Cygnus is now set to maneuver to an independent orbit for the release of a record number of 14 CubeSats completing a variety of operational and demonstration missions.

Спойлер

Cygnus arrived at the Space Station on November 14 after a very smooth rendezvous process, enabled by the flawless performance of the second Antares 200 series launch vehicle that provided the craft with a perfect orbital insertion. Bolted into position on the Earth-facing port of the Station's Unity Module, Cygnus was opened for business later on November 14th and the Space Station crew was greeted by a commemorative poster of the late Moonwalker whose name this Cygnus is carrying.


Photo: NASA

After three science-heavy Dragon missions arriving at ISS this year, Cygnus OA-8 was more focused on the supplies side, allowing ISS to extend its consumables to June 2018. Packed into the Italian-built cargo module were 3,229 Kilograms of cargo comprised of 1,240kg of crew supplies including food provisions and clothing, 851kg of maintenance gear and systems hardware to keep ISS in operational form, 740kg of science investigations and CubeSats, and 166kg of spacewalk equipment and computer resources.

Two CubeSats delivered aboard the Cygnus spacecraft were released fr om the Space Station on November 20/21 with three satellites from a previous delivery to begin a diverse set of missions studying how the antibiotic resistance of E. coli changes in space, testing out a new ultra-small space telescope design for exoplanet science, demonstrating a 6U CubeSat platform for science-class missions, studying ionospheric stimulation, and evaluating a drag device for removing satellites from orbit.


TangoLab aboard ISS – Photo: NASA/SpaceTango

Cygnus OA-8 also participated in a demonstration of the "extended lab" concept wherein visiting vehicles can be used as an extension of ISS laboratory volume while attached. This involved moving the Space Tango TangoLab-1 module from Express Rack 4 into the Cygnus cargo vehicle for a week-long demonstration before being moved back to the ISS side. The TangoLab is a reconfigurable general research facility providing a plug-and-play architecture for standardized science modules with around 2 CubeSat units of volume for experiments in a number of fields including biology, biochemistry and physics.

With only a three-week docked mission, the four USOS crew members had their hands full to get the 3,229kg of cargo moved to ISS and replace it with 2.8 metric tons of trash and no-longer-needed hardware for disposal when Cygnus meets its fiery end over the Pacific Ocean. Hardware delivered by Cygnus included replacement gas bottles for the Combustion Integrated Rack for upcoming research into combustion dynamics in microgravity, a Rodent Habitat to provide a home for the next Rodent Research mission flying on SpaceX, and parts for the Station's 3D printer.


Photo: NASA

Approaching the end of its stay at ISS, the S.S. Gene Cernan was buttoned up by the crew – going through the usual procedure of closing out the interior of the spacecraft before closing its hatch, then outfitting the vestibule between ISS and Cygnus with bolt drive assemblies and removing power and data connectors before closing the Unity module hatch to permit the standard leak check to be performed. Sixteen bolts were released to free the Cygnus spacecraft from Unity and transfer control over to Canadarm2 that had grappled the spacecraft on November 30.

Unberthing was marked at 17:52 UTC on Tuesday and Canadarm2 was put through a series of maneuvers to swing the 6.4-meter long spacecraft around and position it above the Station's Harmony module. Hanging out above Harmony, Cygnus conducted radio interference and GPS checks to verify future crew vehicles will be able to have stable communications and GPS position calculation as they approach the zenith docking port on Harmony, to be established with the installation of International Docking Adapter 3 on Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 that had been moved to this location earlier in 2017.


Photo: NASA

Cygnus was the perfect vehicle to conduct this test due to its ability to receive power and communicate through its Power & Video Grapple Fixture, allowing the spacecraft to remain attached to Canadarm2 for extended periods. After the completion of the overnight checks, Cygnus was maneuvered to park below the Harmony module wh ere it awaited its release.

Taking up station inside the Cupola, NASA Astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba began setting up the Robotics Workstation for release of the Cygnus spacecraft. When the optimal release time arrived based on lighting conditions and orbital dynamics, the command was issued to release Cygnus by retracting latches and opening snares within the arm's Latching End Effector. Release was marked at 13:11 UTC on Wednesday and Canadarm2 backed away from Cygnus before the spacecraft was allowed to recover from Free Drift and gently fire its thrusters for a posigrade departure maneuver – pulling out in front of ISS.


Photo: NASA TV


Photo: NASA TV

Twenty minutes after release, Cygnus departed the ISS Approach Ellipsoid, ending integrated operations between NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston and Orbital MCC in Dulles, Virginia.

Later in the day, Cygnus will conduct a pair of orbit-raising maneuvers to enter an orbit around 450 Kilometers in altitude, some 50km above the Space Station's orbit. This will provide the CubeSats released from Cygnus with a longer orbital lifetime compared to release from the Space Station which typically leads to re-entry within a year of deployment.

Packed into the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers affixed to Cygnus are eight Lemur-2 satellites operated by Spire Global to collect global ship-tracking data and atmospheric pressure & temperature profiles; two OCSD satellites testing high-speed laser communications and a new CubeSat propulsion system, PropCube 2 looking into artificial ionospheric stimulation to influence radio communications; the Asgardia 1 satellite of the self-proclaimed space nation; the ISARA CubeSat for a test of a high-speed Ka-Band communications antenna; and the Naval Research Lab's CHEFsat preparing consumer communications technology for use in space.

Cygnus OA-8 will remain in orbit through December 18 when the spacecraft will complete a pair of retrograde maneuvers to set up a targeted, destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean to close out the eighth operational Cygnus mission.

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[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 21 мин. назад

The Cernan cargo ship was released from ISS atg 1311 UTC. It's now in a higher orbit, but no TLEs yet. Cubesat deploys expected, waiting for info from @nanoracks

[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 8 мин. назад

The Asgardia cubesat has been deployed from Cygnus - possibly at 2252 UTC

Ken‏ @SwandriverKen 1 ч. назад

We've had successful deployment of #Asgardia

[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 21 мин. назад

8 more LEMUR-2 satellites for @SpireGlobal have been deployed from the @nanoracks NRCSD-E dispenser on Cygnus OA-8, sometime prior to 0224 UTC Dec 7

Spire‏ @SpireGlobal 25 мин. назад

Please join us in welcoming to orbit our latest batch of Lemurs! LEMUR2-YONGLIN, LEMUR2-KEVIN, LEMUR2-BRIANDAVIE. LEMUR2-ROMACOSTE, LEMUR2-ROCKETJONAH, LEMUR2-LIU-POH-CHUN, LEMUR2-MCCULLAGH & LEMUR2-DUNLOP

This makes 48 satellites in the current constellation.

[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 20 мин. назад

Still waiting to hear about ISARA, CHEFSAT, PROPCUBE and Aerocube 7/OCSD, also due for deployment from the Gene Cernan's external deployer

[tnt22]

Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 4 мин. назад

We have received confirmation that #Cygnus has successfully completed all three @NanoRacks cubesat deployments #OA8 #OrbitalATKDelivers

[zandr]

http://tass.ru/kosmos/4790059

ВАШИНГТОН, 6 декабря. /ТАСС/. Транспортный грузовой корабль Cygnus в среду успешно отстыковался от Международной космической станции (МКС), сообщается в Twitter Национального управления по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства (NASA).
Корабль был отведен от станции при помощи роботизированной руки-манипулятора в 08:11 по времени Восточного побережья США (16:11 мск). Cygnus был пристыкован к МКС на протяжении 22 дней. Теперь ему предстоит выполнить свою заключительную миссию - он должен отстрелить 14 кубсатов (малых искусственных спутников). Уже после этого он сгорит в плотных слоях атмосферы.
Cygnus был пристыкован к МКС 14 ноября, он доставил экипажу 3338 кг грузов, в том числе 1240 кг продовольствия, 851 кг оборудования для станции и 740 кг оборудования для научных экспериментов. Корабль был запущен при помощи ракеты-носителя Antares, стартовавшей с космодрома на острове Уоллопс.

[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 18 мин. назад

Latest TLEs for the Cygnus cargo ship Cernan show it in a 447 x 455 km x 51.7 deg orbit about 50 km above the ISS; this is the orbit where the cubesats were deployed, but no TLEs for them yet

[tnt22]

http://nanoracks.com/4th-external-cargo-ship-satellite-deployment-mission/

NanoRacks Completes 4th External Cargo Ship Satellite Deployment Mission, Largest to Date
December 7, 2017          //

This mission marks over 200 satellites deployed into low-Earth orbit by NanoRacks since 2014.

Dulles, Virginia – December 7, 2017 – Last night, NanoRacks successfully completed the Company's 4th External Cygnus Deployment mission after commands were sent to the Cygnus spacecraft fr om Orbital ATK's Mission Control at their Dulles headquarters.

Спойлер

The Orbital ATK CRS-8 mission launched on November 12, 2017, carrying NanoRacks' fourth mission providing opportunities for CubeSat deployment from Cygnus after the vehicle departs from the International Space Station. Prior to launch, the NanoRacks External Cygnus Deployer is installed on the exterior of the Cygnus service module with the capability to deploy satellites after the spacecraft completes its primary space station commercial resupply mission.

After departing from the Space Station, Cygnus was elevated to an altitude of 450 kilometers before deploying the satellites.

On this External Cygnus Deployment mission, NanoRacks deployed 14 satellites with customers including Spire, Asgardia, Tyvak, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and more. Also a part of this External Cygnus manifest were The Aerospace Corporation's Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (Aerocube 7B/C) satellites, water-based propulsion CubeSats.

"NanoRacks is proud to be the primary program on the OA-8 Cygnus secondary mission," says Senior Mission Manager Henry Martin. "This successful mission further exemplifies the growing opportunities for our diverse customer base in low-Earth orbit. We've now deployed over 200 satellites across all of our platforms. This is a big milestone for us and we're proud to remain a leading provider as the market continues to grow."

The NanoRacks External Cygnus Deployer released the following satellites:
 

[/li]
• ISARA
• PROPCUBE-Fauna
• Lemur-2 (8 CubeSats)
• Aerocube 7B/C (2 CubeSats)
• Asgardia-1
• CHEFSat
  

"We're especially pleased to further contribute to the growth of Spire's global ship, weather, and aviation tracking constellation in low-Earth orbit," adds Martin. "It's great to serve a critical role in ensuring Spire is able to continue meeting their goal of providing unmatched data on parts of the world wh ere collecting data is notoriously difficult."

Additionally of note, the ISARA and Aerocube 7B/C satellites deployed in this mission were funded through NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP), which is chartered to develop and mature technologies to enhance and expand the capabilities of small spacecraft with a particular focus on communications, propulsion, pointing, power, and autonomous operations.

Thank you to NASA and Orbital ATK on their ongoing support for our External Cygnus Deployment program.

Download the press release pdf or continued updates, be sure to follow @NanoRacks on Twitter.

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[tnt22]

NanoRacks‏Подлинная учетная запись @NanoRacks 12 мин. назад

Last night's External #Cygnus deploy times were:

19:23:50 UTC - 2x Lemurs, ChefSat, Aerocube B/C
22:40:20 UTC - 2x Lemurs PROPCUBE-Fauna, Asgardia-1, ISARA
02:00:00 UTC - 4x Lemurs

[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 4 ч. назад

The 14 cubesats deployed from Cygnus now cataloged as 43041-54, 2017-71E to 71T, in 451 x 455 km x 51.6 deg orbits. As usual, not clear yet which is which.

[tnt22]

Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 9 мин. назад

Our S. S. Gene Cernan #Cygnus has completed the reentry burn and is nearing reentry interface. #OA8

[tnt22]

Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 2 мин. назад

We are excited to report that the S.S. Gene Cernan #Cygnus has successfully completed its #OA8 mission! #OrbitalATKDelivers

R.I.P.

[tnt22]

https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=315

Orbital ATK's Cygnus Spacecraft Successfully Concludes Eighth Cargo Supply Mission to the International Space Station

"S.S. Gene Cernan" Performs Flawlessly as In-Orbit Research Platform While Attached to Space Station

Cygnus Sets New Records for Disposable Cargo Removal and Cubesat Deployments

Dulles, Virginia 18 December 2017 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that its "S. S. Gene Cernan" Cygnus™ spacecraft successfully completed its eighth cargo supply mission to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract. The mission, known as OA-8, achieved significant milestones that further demonstrated the versatility and value of the Cygnus spacecraft. Cygnus acted as an extension of the space station for the first time by supporting science experiments inside the cargo module while docked to the laboratory. The Cygnus spacecraft also removed approximately 6,400 pounds (2,900 kilograms) of items for disposal, marking the largest amount of material removed by the spacecraft during its cargo resupply missions. The "S. S. Gene Cernan" then executed flawlessly on secondary missions that included the deployment of a record 14 cubesats into orbit from a NanoRacks cubesat deployer.

Спойлер

The OA-8 mission officially concluded on December 18 at 7:54 a.m. EST when Cygnus performed a safe, destructive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand. The spacecraft remained docked for 22 days at the orbiting laboratory and departed the space station on December 6.

"From launch to a safe reentry, Cygnus exceeded expectations on every aspect of this mission," said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group. "We made history by successfully hosting science experiments for the first time while attached to the space station, removed a record amount of materials for disposal and deployed the highest number of cubesats yet on a secondary mission. Our success is a fitting tribute to Gene Cernan, one of the great space pioneers in our industry and we are proud to have flown Cygnus in his name."

The OA-8 mission began on November 12 when Cygnus launched aboard an Orbital ATK Antares™ rocket at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. Upon arrival at the orbiting laboratory, Cygnus delivered approximately 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of cargo and science experiments to the astronauts.

Pending NASA's specific cargo needs, Orbital ATK is prepared to launch two additional CRS missions next year aboard the company's Antares rockets from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. ...

# # #

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[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 2 ч. назад

Article to cover OA-8 Cygnus EOM:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/12/flawless-oa-8e-cygnus-iss-activities/ ... - by Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF)

OA-8E Cygnus completes mission after 12 days of free-flight activities

December 18, 2017 by Chris Gebhardt

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/cygnus-cargo-spacecraft-ends-successful-mission-after-extended-free-flight-demonstration/

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Ends Successful Mission after Extended Free Flight Demonstration
December 18, 2017


Photo: Orbital ATK

The S.S. Gene Cernan, Orbital ATK's eighth operational Cygnus spacecraft, closed out a 36-day mission on Monday via destructive re-entry – completing a 22-day stay at the International Space Station and deploying a series of small CubeSats after finishing its ISS resupply mission.

Спойлер

With Monday's re-entry, Cygnus ended a flawless mission that began on November 12 with liftoff from the Wallops Flight Facility atop the second Antares 230 rocket and its RD-181 engines that debuted on the previous Cygnus mission as replacement for Antares' original engines that had been implicated as a culprit in the Cygnus Orb-3 failure of 2014. The mission was off to an excellent start, receiving a slight overperformance from the upgraded Antares rocket which will benefit future missions in the form of additional cargo upmass and/or performance margin.

The Cygnus spacecraft, comprising an Orbital ATK Service Module and Italian-built cargo carrier, also received high-praise for this mission, performing flawlessly during its two-day rendezvous and three-week berthed stay at ISS, facilitating the delivery of 3,338 Kilograms of cargo, primarily focused on extending the Space Station's consumables through mid-2018 and sending a number of new experiments up for the Expedition 53/54 crew.


Photo: NASA


Mark Vande Hei with TangoLab – Photo: NASA

During its stay, Cygnus OA-8 participated in a demonstration of the "extended lab" concept wherein visiting vehicles can be used as an extension of ISS laboratory volume while attached. This involved moving the Space Tango TangoLab-1 module from Express Rack 4 into the Cygnus cargo vehicle for a week-long demonstration before being moved back to the ISS side. Additionally, Cygnus hosted a radiation experiment to characterize the radiation shielding provided by its structure.

Cygnus, certified to stay berthed to ISS for more than three months, could be used as temporary laboratory module for stretches of weeks at a time before being loaded with trash and heading off on end of mission ops. This may be of particular interest for experiments requiring very little crew attention or those that actively try to avoid disturbances from regular ISS operations.

Over the course of its mission, Cygnus was unloaded by the ISS crew and its cargo was replaced with around 2,900 Kilograms of trash and no-longer-needed hardware for disposal – a new record disposal cargo for the Orbital ATK spacecraft. Cygnus was unberthed from the Unity module on December 5th and positioned above the forward section of the U.S. Segment to 'hang out' overnight, collecting radio interference and GPS data to verify future Commercial Crew vehicles approaching and departing ISS will have a solid lock on GPS and stable communications.

Sent on its way on December 6th, Cygnus headed off on a 12-day free flight mission dedicated to the release of 14 CubeSats and a series of experiments to demonstrate Cygnus as a free-flying testbed for potential future customers. Within hours of its departure of ISS, Cygnus fired its main engine to raise its orbit by 50 Kilometers in order to give the CubeSats a longer orbital lifetime beyond around one year of usable lifetime when deployed directly from the Space Station.


Cygnus Departure – Photo: NASA

CubeSat Deployments were completed in the overnight hours December 6/7 and orbital tracking shows them in an orbit of around 450 by 455 Kilometers, 51.64°:

19:23:50 UTC – 2x Lemur, ChefSat, Aerocube B & C
 22:40:20 UTC – 2x Lemur, PROPCUBE-Fauna, Asgardia-1, ISARA
 02:00:00 UTC – 4x Lemur

With the CubeSats deployed, the way was clear for Cygnus to complete a series of experiments on a prolonged free flight mission to demonstrate the spacecraft's usefulness for experiments after departing ISS. One primary objective of the free flight was a test of actively modifying the craft's internal pressure as some studies may be interested in operating at reduced pressure, e.g. NASA's SAFFIRE in-space fire experiments.

Cygnus, with its ability of flying on its own for several weeks, could be the answer for experiments considered too dangerous to be performed in a human spaceflight environment and can thus not be conducted on board ISS. The SAFFIRE experiment series lit the largest intentional fires in space to date to explore flame spread dynamics in a realistic environment and inform designers of future crew vehicles and fire safety systems – experiments that would not have been possible on a crewed spacecraft.


The Cygnus Orb-2 Spacecraft meets its End in 2014 – Photo: NASA/ESA

Approaching the end of its mission, Cygnus lowered its orbit to 373 by 393 Kilometers and again fired its engine on Monday to further dip the orbit's low point to intercept the atmosphere for destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean. Orbital ATK confirmed Cygnus closed out its mission at 12:54 UTC via a safe destructive re-entry east of New Zealand after a mission duration of 36 days and 35 minutes.

Cygnus OA-9, the next flight for Orbital ATK under the extended Commercial Resupply Services 1 contract, has a notional launch date of May 1st, 2018 per the current planning schedule for ISS; however, dates several months in advance are far from set in stone and can change based on operational factors.

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[zandr]

https://ria.ru/science/20171218/1511207354.html

Космический грузовик Cygnus завершил свою миссию, сгорев в атмосфере Земли
ВАШИНГТОН, 18 дек – РИА Новости. Космический грузовик Cygnus сгорел в верхних слоях атмосферы Земли, планово завершив свою миссию по доставке груза на Международную космическую станцию (МКС), сообщила компания Orbital ATK в понедельник.
Согласно сообщению компании, аппарат сгорел в атмосфере Земли над Тихим океаном к востоку от Новой Зеландии в 15.54 мск в понедельник.
Восьмая грузовая миссия Cygnus к МКС стартовала 12 ноября на ракете-носителе Antares. Беспилотный грузовой корабль доставил на орбиту более 3,3 тонны груза. Корабль оставался на орбите около месяца и впервые, как отмечают в компании, в это время в нем также проводились научные эксперименты.
Грузовик покинул станцию 6 декабря, забрав с нее рекордный объём (около 2,9 тонны) отработанных материалов. До завершения миссии аппарат также осуществил запуск с орбиты 14 малых спутников.

Спойлер

В настоящее время на МКС находится американский грузовой корабль Dragon компании SpaceX, два российских грузовика "Прогресс" и пилотируемый "Союз МС-05". Во вторник на орбитальную станцию прибудет пилотируемый корабль "Союз МС-07" с новым экипажем.

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[tnt22]

К #470

https://aerospace.org/press-release/laser-communications-demonstrated-cubesats-first-time

LASER COMMUNICATIONS DEMONSTRATED FR OM CUBESATS FOR THE FIRST TIME

LASER COMMUNICATIONS DEMONSTRATED FR OM CUBESATS FOR THE FIRST TIME

August 02, 2018

The laser communication system, carried by the two low-Earth-orbiting OCSD CubeSats also known as AeroCube-7B and Aerocube-7C, successfully transmitted data at a rate of 100 megabits per second which is 50 times greater than typical communication systems for this size spacecraft.

Спойлер

"This is a significant achievement, given that high speed laser communications is mostly done from larger satellite systems," said Steve Isakowitz, Aerospace president and CEO. "Our talented engineers continue to demonstrate that we are on the leading edge of innovation. I'm proud of this incredible accomplishment by the AeroCube team."

While laser communications has been implemented in large commercial satellite systems, this is the first step toward using laser communications in small platforms, such as CubeSats.

"Space-to-ground optical communications from a free-flying CubeSat has never been done before, and we're excited to be involved in this demonstration," said Todd Rose, the OCSD optical communications lead.

This new technology uses free-space laser communication systems, which are smaller, lighter, and offer higher data rates and enhanced security as compared to the radio frequency systems currently in use.

"These CubeSats are really ground-breaking and we believe this research will have applications in several different technologies and mission areas," said Dr. Siegfried Janson, one of the principal investigators for OCSD. He and the Aerospace small satellite team designed and built the OCSD spacecraft, and are now taking these smallsats through their paces on orbit.

Each OCSD satellite's laser is hard-mounted, which means that in order to point the laser, the entire satellite must rotate. This unique design simplifies the laser communications system by eliminating beam steering mirrors, and instead harnesses a highly accurate control system to point the satellite while downloading data. This attitude control system, which includes tiny star trackers, allows the spacecraft to point to an accuracy of 0.025 degrees. This altitude control system is forty times more accurate than was previously possible for a satellite of this size.

Aerospace also completed a proximity maneuver that brought the OCSD satellites within 20 feet of each other as part of their technology demonstration. The OCSD pair determined wh ere they were in relation to each other by using on-board GPS receivers. Inexpensive cameras, beacons, and laser rangefinders will be used in upcoming proximity demonstrations.

To control their movement, the OCSD satellites use a novel propulsion system, designed at Aerospace, that uses water as a propellant. The benefit in using water in place of hazardous chemicals is that it makes it safer for other payloads on the same launch. The CubeSat has a thermal design that keeps the water from freezing. The propulsion system heats the water to steam which is exhausted through the thrusters when propulsion is required.

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The two 1.5 unit OCSD CubeSats were launched on Nov. 12, 2017, as secondary payloads on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. They were later deployed on Dec. 6, 2017, from the CYGNUS resupply capsule that carried them to the space station, wh ere they awaited their deployment, from the resupply capsule, several weeks later after the resupply mission was completed. While several goals have been achieved for the mission, testing will continue over the coming weeks for both the laser communications system and the proximity operations mission.

The OCSD mission is funded and managed by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate Small Spacecraft Technology Program.