1996-049A
The Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST) was a SMEX mission whose launch was delayed several years due to Pegasus problems. The 162 kg satellite was built by GSFC to carry out a very high time resolution study of auroral electrons and ions correlated with other probes. Principal investigator was Charles Carson of University of California at Berkeley. The bus is a cylinder 0.86m long and 1.17m diameter with four booms 30 m long to measure electric fields, and two magnetometer booms. The 12rpm spinning satellite keeps its axis aligned with the orbit normal. Planned orbit is 350 x 4200 km x 83 deg.
A launch attempt was made on 1996 Aug 18, but the drop was cancelled eleven minutes before launch because of communications problems and the L-1011 returned to Vandenberg. Launch came successfully on Aug 21. The mission operated until May 2009.
| FAST | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 Aug 21 | 0850 | L-1011 takeoff VAFB | |
| 0947 | Pegasus drop, ignition | 36.0 N 123.0 W | |
| 0955 | Orbit insertion T+8:30 | ||
| 1996 Aug 21 | 133.17 350 x 4169 x 83.0 | ||
| 1996 Aug 23 | Magnetometer booms deployed | ||
| 1996 Sep 3 | Begin wire boom deploy, Sphere 1 | ||
| Sphere 4 (boom B) not deployed | |||
| 1996 Sep 9 | Outer spheres for booms C, D deployed | ||
| 1996 Sep 9 | Boom A, C, D inner spheres deployed | ||
| 1998 Jan 25 | 132.92 350 x 4148 x 83.0 | ||
| 2009 May 1 | end of ops | ||
Payload:
- Electric Field Plasma Expt UCB
- Quadrispherical Electrostatic Electron Analyser UCB
- Time of Flight Energy Angle Mass Spectrograph UNH/Lockheed
- Magnetic Field Experiment: magnetometer booms (2), UCLA
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