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The
MAST Experiment:
A
Low-Cost Picosat Experiment to Demonstrate Space Tether Technologies
In March 2007, Tethers Unlimited's "Multi-Application Survivable Tether" (MAST) Experiment will be launched into low Earth orbit to perform investigations of the dynamics of tethered formations of spacecraft and to investigate the survivability of tethers in the harsh space environment. The MAST experiment consists of three picosatellites which will ride into orbit as a secondary payload on a Dnepr rocket as a part of the University CubeSat program. For launch, these three picosatellites stack together into a volume about the size of a loaf of bread. Once on orbit, the picosatellites will separate and deploy a 1,000 meter long Hoytether™ structure.
The middle picosatellite, called "Gadget", will then slowly crawl up and down the tether, taking pictures of the tether as it goes. These pictures will be transmitted to a ground station for analysis to determine how quickly the tether experiences damage due to impacts by micrometeoroids and orbital debris, as well as due to erosion by atomic oxygen and UV light.
In addition, all three picosatellites contain GPS receivers, and data from these receivers will be collected to provide information on the dynamics of tethered formations of spacecraft and the performance of our tether deployment technologies.
The total cost of the MAST program is expected to come in at under $1M, proving that good science can be accomplished in very low cost flight missions. The MAST program has been funded through a combination of private and government research funds. The development of the underlying technologies was funded by a NASA Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract, with Stanford University's Space Systems Development Lab (SSDL) collaborating as the non-profit Research Institution.
The construction and qualification testing costs for the picosatellite flight models and the launch costs have been funded by TUI internal funding and private investments.
Please stay tuned for updates once MAST reaches orbit!
For further
information
please contact TUI at
information@tethers.com