WSF (Wake Shield Facility) was an american retrievable spacecraft that was released from the Shuttle. The wake region behind the 4 m disk-shaped, 1935 kg spacecraft would have been even more vacuous than the ambient region and could have enabled growth of slimmer thin-film semiconductors through molecular beam epitaxy technique. The addition of solar panels, additional central processing power, and robotic substrate sample manipulation for extended orbital operations.
The WSF-4 Free Flyer was planned for 1998. After the flights initial three WSF, the improved long-duration version was cancelled.
| Nation: | USA |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Material research, retrievable |
| Operator: | NASA |
| Contractors: | |
| Equipment: | |
| Configuration: | |
| Propulsion: | |
| Power: | Solar cells, batteries |
| Lifetime: | |
| Mass: | 1700 kg |
| Orbit: |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSF 4 | - | cancelled | CCK LC-39 | Shuttle | with ? |
