Orbital Express - End of Mission

End of Mission

The final rendezvous and docking between the two spacecraft occurred on 29 June 2007. This was followed by the final demonstration, the changeout of a flight computer aboard ASTRO. NASA's plans for an extended mission were abandoned. The two craft demated for a final time, with ASTRO backing out to greater than 400 km (250 mi) in a test of sensor performance. Following this the craft performed a rendezvous to a standoff, where decommissioning took place. The NEXTSat spacecraft was deactivated on 21 July, when its computers were turned off, and solar panels pointed away from the Sun. Subsequently, ASTRO vented its Hydrazine propellant, and was deactivated on 22 July 2007. The satellites were left to decay naturally. NextSat is expected to take five years to decay, whilst ASTRO is expected to take fifteen years.