Scouting the Skies last night was a real turn up for the books. It was a very clear night and a good night for Astronomers. Of course i was awaiting the International Space Station, currently with the Shuttle Discovery. Perseus and Orion were really clear when I saw for the first time ‘Nanosail-D2”.
NanoSail-D2 is a small satellite which will be used by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre and Ames Research Centre to study the deployment of a solar sail in space. It is a three-unit Cube-Sat measuring 30 by 10 by 10 centimetres (12 × 3.9 × 3.9 inches), with a mass of 4 kilograms (8.8 lb). Its solar sail has an area of 10 square metres (110 sq ft), and was deployed in around five seconds. It passed right through Orion and what a great catch, even if i did miss the ISS through the excitement hi! You too can track its progress by clicking the image above, Good Luck!
