spacetoday.net: space news from around the webin association with SpaceNews


NASA releases DART report summary
Posted: Tue, May 16, 2006, 8:03 AM ET (1203 GMT)
DART spacecraft illustration (OSC) A collision between a small NASA satellite and another spacecraft last year has been blamed on a glitch with the spacecraft's navigation system, compounded by management and training issues, according to a report summary released by NASA late Monday. The Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft was launched in April 2005 on a short mission to rendezvous with a defunct small military satellite, MUBLCOM, without human guidance. The mission ended early, though, when DART bumped into MUBLCOM. According to the summary of the mishap investigation board report, glitches in DART's navigation system caused it to inaccurately measure its position and navigation, using up an excessive amount of thruster propellant in the process. Contributing to the failure, the report summary noted, was the "high risk, low budget" nature of the project and inadequate training of the spacecraft team. The full report was not issued by NASA, citing export control issues.
<<previous article   next article>>
news in brief
Shenzhou-20 launches to Tiangong space station
Posted: Sun, Apr 27 10:25 AM ET (1425 GMT)

Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites
Posted: Sun, Apr 27 10:20 AM ET (1420 GMT)

Northwood Space raises $30 million
Posted: Sun, Apr 27 10:16 AM ET (1416 GMT)

news links
Tuesday, April 29
DOD mission set to launch from Wallops Island
ShoreDailyNews.com — 6:19 am ET (1019 GMT)
Starbase could be Texas' newest official town. Here's how.
San Antonio Express-News — 6:14 am ET (1014 GMT)


about spacetoday.net   ·   info@spacetoday.net   ·   mailing list