ST 8

The ST8 (Space Technology 8) Mission, slated for launch in 2009, is a New Millennium Carrier that will host a varied payload of four advanced technologies. Each technology validation experiment will include diagnostic instruments. They will perform detailed measurements to characterize and determine how well the technologies performance in space corresponds to predictions derived from ground-based testing and modeling. The resulting data will be provided to science mission planners to enable a broad range of space-based science projects at significantly reduced risk and cost. The selected suite of advanced technology experiments includes:

• Ultraflex Next Generation Solar Array System (NGU) from AEC-Able Engineering, Inc., Goleta, Calif. The NGU is an ultra-lightweight flexible-blanket solar array that deploys to provide a significant advancement in performance over existing state-of-the-art for high power arrays. The proposed experiment cost for the NGU is $6.9 million.
• SAILMAST Ultra Lightweight Boom from AEC-Able Engineering, Inc. The SAILMAST is an ultra-light graphite mast intended for solar sail propulsion systems. The proposed experiment cost for the SAILMAST is $4 million.
• Miniature Loop Heat Pipe Small Spacecraft Thermal Management System (MLHP) from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The MLHP can transport large heat loads over long distances with small temperature differences and without external pumping powers to provide precise temperature control and reduce the need for supplemental heaters. The proposed experiment cost for the MLHP is $9.8 million.
• Environmentally Adaptive Fault Tolerant Computing System (EAFTC) from Honeywell International, Inc., Clearwater, Fla. The EAFTC will provide high rate on board processing for science data and autonomous control functions. The proposed experiment cost for the EAFTC is $10 million.

ST8 was planned for a 2009 Pegasus-XL launch, but has been cancelled.

Source: NASA press release

Last update: 27.09.2009
Contact: gunter.krebs@skyrocket.de
© Gunter Dirk Krebs