NASA is prepare to test an challenging gadget in Earth orbit . too soon next twelvemonth , they will set about to Delaware - orbit a minuscule artificial satellite using a chute , call up an “ Exo - Brake ” .
The equipment was sent to the International Space Station ( ISS ) aboard Japan’sKounotori 6 cargo vehicle , which get on Tuesday , December 13 having launched on Friday , December 9 . The missionary station is call TechEdSat-5 ( Technology Education ) and was designed by engineers at NASA ’s Ames Research Center in California .
The spacecraft consists of three little CubeSats strapped together , basically three modest cubes . Two of these carry a cross - shaped chute ( the third packs the legal document and knickknackery ) , which will deploy when the spacecraft is release from the ISS early next year .
This parachute , made of Mylar , is designed to slow down the artificial satellite in orbit , ensure it re - recruit Earth ’s aura . If successful , it could replace existing ( and complicated ) rocket - base systems used by satellite to de - orbit .
“ The Exo - Brake ’s current figure use a intercrossed organisation of mechanical swagger and flexible cord with a control system that ‘ warps ’ the Exo - Brake – much like how the Wright brothers used warping to see the flight behavior of their first offstage design , ” said Marcus Murbach , principal investigator and inventor of the Exo - Brake equipment , in astatement .
It ’s not the first demonstration of this technology ; that cameback in 2013 , when TechEdSat-3p was deploy from the ISS . But this time around , the technologist will be able to control the spacecraft more accurately .
In the future , this engineering science could enable payload getting even missions – such as bringing samples back from other bodies – to be landed more easy on the ground . NASA also pronounce the engineering science could help foreign mission land on Mars , or other body in the Solar System .
engine driver with the TechEdSat- payload prior to launch . NASA Ames / Dominic Hart
