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Endeavour releases experimental satellite
May 22, 1996
Web posted at: 10:40 a.m. EDTCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Space shuttle Endeavour ejected a small satellite Wednesday that looked like a wastepaper basket slowly spinning out of control. Minutes later, the wobbling stopped. (427K QuickTime movie)
The satellite was weighted down on one end to see if it would stabilize itself in orbit, and astronauts said it appeared to have done that. However, they said more tests were needed.
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Endeavour launch a success - Shockwave version
The satellite's release is part of a test that NASA hopes will reveal new ways of stabilizing spacecraft in orbit without burning rocket fuel.
Astronaut Mario Runco Jr. pushed the button that catapulted the satellite -- called PAMS-STU -- out of a canister in the shuttle's cargo bay.
"It is rotating clockwise very slowly," Runco said after the release at 5:18 a.m. EDT.
PAMS-STU -- 20 inches in diameter and 30 inches long -- is equipped with a mechanism designed to stabilize it in orbit using Earth's magnetic field and the very thin atmosphere that exists 276 miles up.
"If we can stabilize a satellite on its own, then we can avoid the weight and complexity of propellant tanks and attitude-control jets," Commander John Casper said in a pre-flight interview.
Endeavour's six-man crew will spend about 14 hours over three days looking at the satellite's position. Endeavour should have enough fuel to return to the satellite three times, Jeff Bantle, NASA's mission operations director, said Tuesday.
The astronauts are to make their first visit to the satellite later Wednesday.
The shuttle crew completed the first stage of its 10-day mission Tuesday by retrieving a roving satellite used as a platform for an inflatable antenna experiment.
In another test, a Coca-Cola dispenser aboard Endeavour sputtered and leaked Tuesday, leaving astronauts with only skimpy servings of Coke and Diet Coke.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Endeavour captures roving satellite - May 21, 1996
- Endeavour unfurls giant antenna - May 20, 1996
- Endeavour launch a success - May 18, 1996
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