Multi-Application Survivable Tether

The Multi-Application Survivable Tether (MAST) experiment was an <a href="/facts/Outer_space/R3LRKyFs">in-space</a> investigation designed to use <a href="/facts/CubeSat/jL2IpYKd">CubeSat</a> spacecraft connected by <a href="/facts/Tether_satellite/vuK7nbJx">tethers</a> to better understand the survivability of tethers in space. It was launched as a secondary payload on a <a href="/facts/Dnepr_(rocket)/g3VIdEfT">Dnepr rocket</a> on 17 April 2007 into a 98°, 647 x 782 km orbit. The MAST payload incorporated three picosatellites, named "Ralph," "Ted," and "Gadget," which were intended to separate and deploy a 1 km (0.62 mi) tether. The experiment hardware was designed under a NASA Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) collaboration between <a href="/facts/Tethers_Unlimited,_Inc./4lFrFk48">Tethers Unlimited, Inc</a>. (TUI) (which is now part of the Arka Corporation) and <a href="/facts/Stanford_University/JEQeF9z2">Stanford University</a>, with TUI developing the tether, tether deployer, tether inspection subsystem, satellite avionics, and software, and Stanford students developing the satellite structures and assisting with the avionics design.
The experiment is currently on-orbit.[needs update] After launch, as of 25 April 2007, TUI had made contact with the "Gadget" picosatellite, but not with "Ted", the tether-deployer picosatellite, or "Ralph," the end mass.

Multi-Application Survivable Tether open-in-new

Multi-Application Survivable Tether