The Mini Missions Aboard The Artemis Rocket Pack A Big Punch

One of the miniature spacecraft, named the Near Earth Asteroid Scout, will aim for a particularly distant target: It will soar past the moon en route to a near-Earth asteroid, where it will take detailed pictures. The satellite will be propelled there by a sweeping solar sail. Despite its small size, NEA Scout, as it’s known for short, can do cutting-edge science while helping to search for the kind of asteroid that future larger-class missions would like to visit. “We want to image everything possible about the asteroid’s rotation, its size, its brightness and its local environment,” says Julie Castillo-Rogez, planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and science team leader. NEA Scout. The spacecraft is equipped with a miniature but top-notch camera, similar in resolution to that found on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, a much larger asteroid-detecting craft. “It’s very capable, but very small,” he says. The NEA Scout and its nine companions demonstrate the many potential uses of nanosatellites known as CubeSats. Each is made up of sets of cubes that are about 4 inches on a side. While some CubeSats consist of three units in a row, called 3U, the spacecraft on Artemis 1 are 6U. The Capstone spacecraft, the first CubeSat launched as part of the Artemis program, is a 12U. Capstone launched in June and will orbit the moon for the planned Lunar Gateway space station, which astronauts will assemble during future Artemis missions. All of these satellites take advantage of tiny technologies and cram batteries, electronics, cameras and other tools into an extremely compact space, allowing for cheaper research than building larger spacecraft, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. After the NEA Scout is deployed by the SLS rocket, it will fly by the moon and then slowly unfold its solar sail several days later. Like everything else, the sail will initially be packed in a small box, which will comfortably fit a third of the boat. But not for long. “As soon as we give this command, four metal booms will open, pulling the sail from a reel. It’s 925 square feet, about a school bus by a school bus,” says Les Johnson, NEA Scout Technology Group Leader at Marshall Space Flight Center. The cloth is coated with reflective aluminum that’s thinner than aluminum foil—like Saran Wrap but not sticky, Johnson says. Unlike a boat, the small spaceship’s sail will propel the craft when it catches rays of light, rather than gusts of wind. As the light reflects off the sail, it gives off some energy, which turns into an extra boost to the sail and the spacecraft.

title: “The Mini Missions Aboard The Artemis Rocket Pack A Big Punch Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-24” author: “Juan Oles”

One of the miniature spacecraft, named the Near Earth Asteroid Scout, will aim for a particularly distant target: It will soar past the moon en route to a near-Earth asteroid, where it will take detailed pictures. The satellite will be propelled there by a sweeping solar sail. Despite its small size, NEA Scout, as it’s known for short, can do cutting-edge science while helping to search for the kind of asteroid that future larger-class missions would like to visit. “We want to image everything possible about the asteroid’s rotation, its size, its brightness and its local environment,” says Julie Castillo-Rogez, planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and science team leader. NEA Scout. The spacecraft is equipped with a miniature but top-notch camera, similar in resolution to that found on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, a much larger asteroid-detecting craft. “It’s very capable, but very small,” he says. The NEA Scout and its nine companions demonstrate the many potential uses of nanosatellites known as CubeSats. Each is made up of sets of cubes that are about 4 inches on a side. While some CubeSats consist of three units in a row, called 3U, the spacecraft on Artemis 1 are 6U. The Capstone spacecraft, the first CubeSat launched as part of the Artemis program, is a 12U. Capstone launched in June and will orbit the moon for the planned Lunar Gateway space station, which astronauts will assemble during future Artemis missions. All of these satellites take advantage of tiny technologies and cram batteries, electronics, cameras and other tools into an extremely compact space, allowing for cheaper research than building larger spacecraft, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. After the NEA Scout is deployed by the SLS rocket, it will fly by the moon and then slowly unfold its solar sail several days later. Like everything else, the sail will initially be packed in a small box, which will comfortably fit a third of the boat. But not for long. “As soon as we give this command, four metal booms will open, pulling the sail from a reel. It’s 925 square feet, about a school bus by a school bus,” says Les Johnson, NEA Scout Technology Group Leader at Marshall Space Flight Center. The cloth is coated with reflective aluminum that’s thinner than aluminum foil—like Saran Wrap but not sticky, Johnson says. Unlike a boat, the small spaceship’s sail will propel the craft when it catches rays of light, rather than gusts of wind. As the light reflects off the sail, it gives off some energy, which turns into an extra boost to the sail and the spacecraft.

title: “The Mini Missions Aboard The Artemis Rocket Pack A Big Punch Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-09” author: “Denise Avalos”

One of the miniature spacecraft, named the Near Earth Asteroid Scout, will aim for a particularly distant target: It will soar past the moon en route to a near-Earth asteroid, where it will take detailed pictures. The satellite will be propelled there by a sweeping solar sail. Despite its small size, NEA Scout, as it’s known for short, can do cutting-edge science while helping to search for the kind of asteroid that future larger-class missions would like to visit. “We want to image everything possible about the asteroid’s rotation, its size, its brightness and its local environment,” says Julie Castillo-Rogez, planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and science team leader. NEA Scout. The spacecraft is equipped with a miniature but top-notch camera, similar in resolution to that found on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, a much larger asteroid-detecting craft. “It’s very capable, but very small,” he says. The NEA Scout and its nine companions demonstrate the many potential uses of nanosatellites known as CubeSats. Each is made up of sets of cubes that are about 4 inches on a side. While some CubeSats consist of three units in a row, called 3U, the spacecraft on Artemis 1 are 6U. The Capstone spacecraft, the first CubeSat launched as part of the Artemis program, is a 12U. Capstone launched in June and will orbit the moon for the planned Lunar Gateway space station, which astronauts will assemble during future Artemis missions. All of these satellites take advantage of tiny technologies and cram batteries, electronics, cameras and other tools into an extremely compact space, allowing for cheaper research than building larger spacecraft, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. After the NEA Scout is deployed by the SLS rocket, it will fly by the moon and then slowly unfold its solar sail several days later. Like everything else, the sail will initially be packed in a small box, which will comfortably fit a third of the boat. But not for long. “As soon as we give this command, four metal booms will open, pulling the sail from a reel. It’s 925 square feet, about a school bus by a school bus,” says Les Johnson, NEA Scout Technology Group Leader at Marshall Space Flight Center. The cloth is coated with reflective aluminum that’s thinner than aluminum foil—like Saran Wrap but not sticky, Johnson says. Unlike a boat, the small spaceship’s sail will propel the craft when it catches rays of light, rather than gusts of wind. As the light reflects off the sail, it gives off some energy, which turns into an extra boost to the sail and the spacecraft.

title: “The Mini Missions Aboard The Artemis Rocket Pack A Big Punch Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Bonnie Friedle”

One of the miniature spacecraft, named the Near Earth Asteroid Scout, will aim for a particularly distant target: It will soar past the moon en route to a near-Earth asteroid, where it will take detailed pictures. The satellite will be propelled there by a sweeping solar sail. Despite its small size, NEA Scout, as it’s known for short, can do cutting-edge science while helping to search for the kind of asteroid that future larger-class missions would like to visit. “We want to image everything possible about the asteroid’s rotation, its size, its brightness and its local environment,” says Julie Castillo-Rogez, planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and science team leader. NEA Scout. The spacecraft is equipped with a miniature but top-notch camera, similar in resolution to that found on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, a much larger asteroid-detecting craft. “It’s very capable, but very small,” he says. The NEA Scout and its nine companions demonstrate the many potential uses of nanosatellites known as CubeSats. Each is made up of sets of cubes that are about 4 inches on a side. While some CubeSats consist of three units in a row, called 3U, the spacecraft on Artemis 1 are 6U. The Capstone spacecraft, the first CubeSat launched as part of the Artemis program, is a 12U. Capstone launched in June and will orbit the moon for the planned Lunar Gateway space station, which astronauts will assemble during future Artemis missions. All of these satellites take advantage of tiny technologies and cram batteries, electronics, cameras and other tools into an extremely compact space, allowing for cheaper research than building larger spacecraft, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. After the NEA Scout is deployed by the SLS rocket, it will fly by the moon and then slowly unfold its solar sail several days later. Like everything else, the sail will initially be packed in a small box, which will comfortably fit a third of the boat. But not for long. “As soon as we give this command, four metal booms will open, pulling the sail from a reel. It’s 925 square feet, about a school bus by a school bus,” says Les Johnson, NEA Scout Technology Group Leader at Marshall Space Flight Center. The cloth is coated with reflective aluminum that’s thinner than aluminum foil—like Saran Wrap but not sticky, Johnson says. Unlike a boat, the small spaceship’s sail will propel the craft when it catches rays of light, rather than gusts of wind. As the light reflects off the sail, it gives off some energy, which turns into an extra boost to the sail and the spacecraft.

title: “The Mini Missions Aboard The Artemis Rocket Pack A Big Punch Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-17” author: “James Hickey”

One of the miniature spacecraft, named the Near Earth Asteroid Scout, will aim for a particularly distant target: It will soar past the moon en route to a near-Earth asteroid, where it will take detailed pictures. The satellite will be propelled there by a sweeping solar sail. Despite its small size, NEA Scout, as it’s known for short, can do cutting-edge science while helping to search for the kind of asteroid that future larger-class missions would like to visit. “We want to image everything possible about the asteroid’s rotation, its size, its brightness and its local environment,” says Julie Castillo-Rogez, planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and science team leader. NEA Scout. The spacecraft is equipped with a miniature but top-notch camera, similar in resolution to that found on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, a much larger asteroid-detecting craft. “It’s very capable, but very small,” he says. The NEA Scout and its nine companions demonstrate the many potential uses of nanosatellites known as CubeSats. Each is made up of sets of cubes that are about 4 inches on a side. While some CubeSats consist of three units in a row, called 3U, the spacecraft on Artemis 1 are 6U. The Capstone spacecraft, the first CubeSat launched as part of the Artemis program, is a 12U. Capstone launched in June and will orbit the moon for the planned Lunar Gateway space station, which astronauts will assemble during future Artemis missions. All of these satellites take advantage of tiny technologies and cram batteries, electronics, cameras and other tools into an extremely compact space, allowing for cheaper research than building larger spacecraft, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. After the NEA Scout is deployed by the SLS rocket, it will fly by the moon and then slowly unfold its solar sail several days later. Like everything else, the sail will initially be packed in a small box, which will comfortably fit a third of the boat. But not for long. “As soon as we give this command, four metal booms will open, pulling the sail from a reel. It’s 925 square feet, about a school bus by a school bus,” says Les Johnson, NEA Scout Technology Group Leader at Marshall Space Flight Center. The cloth is coated with reflective aluminum that’s thinner than aluminum foil—like Saran Wrap but not sticky, Johnson says. Unlike a boat, the small spaceship’s sail will propel the craft when it catches rays of light, rather than gusts of wind. As the light reflects off the sail, it gives off some energy, which turns into an extra boost to the sail and the spacecraft.