Larry Sessions

Back in May I mentioned a program called YES2 involving some early orbital experimentation with the concept of a “space cable.”

YES2 was to unroll a 30 km (about 19 mile) long cable from an orbiting Russian spacecraft (Foton-M3). The intent was that the dangling probe (called Fotino) would skim the Earth’s upper atmosphere, then be released to return to the surface by parachute. The goal was to prove a process that would allow objects to be returned safely from orbit without the whole mother spacecraft returning. This particular experiment would demonstrate the feasibility of a kind of “space mail.”

D-day was September 25, but unfortunately contact was lost with Fotino after only about 8.5 km of the cable was reeled out. Initially this was chalked up as a failure. However, after extensive study of the preliminary data, the YES2 team has analyzed the data and the ESA (European Space Agency) has announced that although contact with Fotino was lost prematurely, it appears that the cable unfurled the full 30 km.

So while YES2 did not perform as expected, and Fotino was not recovered, the combination of Foton-M3 and Fotino on a 30 km cable became the longest spacecraft ever to orbit Earth. And the success, though limited, paves the way for future, more ambitious projects.

Some 500 students from universities in Europe, Russia, Japan, Australia and the US were involved in preliminary design of the YES2 probe, with about 60 students heavily involved in the mission.

Are you a college student looking to work with NASA or ESA? If so, click on these links:
NASA internships
ESA internships

Larry Sessions