YES2 Mission Design
During the flight, the FLOYD mechanism ejected the other two components. There was then to be a controlled deployment of a 30 km long tether. Orbital dynamics caused the Fotino capsule to be positioned in front of the mother spacecraft. By bringing the deployment to a halt, a pendulum-like swing was induced. When the capsule and tether swung through the local vertical, the tether was cut. Since the capsule was then going too slowly to stay in orbit, it has entered a trajectory to re-enter the atmosphere from an altitude of about 250 km, protected by a heat shield made of novel materials. Once it reached an altitude of 5 km, a parachute was intended to deploy to ensure a soft landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
Since data from the Fotino was not downlinked and the Fotino capsule itself was not recovered, it is not known how whether the capsule has survived the entry.
Read more about this topic: Young Engineers' Satellite 2
Famous quotes containing the words mission and/or design:
“I cannot be a materialist—but Oh, how is it possible that a God who speaks to all hearts can let Belgravia go laughing to a vicious luxury, and Whitechapel cursing to a filthy debauchery—such suffering, such dreadful suffering—and shall the short years of Christ’s mission atone for it all?”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Delay always breeds danger; and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.”
—Miguel De Cervantes (1547–1616)