SSAG Gets Lift in Small Satellite Mission of the Year Competition
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SSAG Gets Lift in Small Satellite Mission of the Year Competition
By Javier Chagoya
Space Systems Academic Group Research Assistant Wenschel Lan, above, is pictured in NPS' Small Satellite Test Laboratory, Aug. 21. SSAG participated in the Lightsail Spacecraft Test Mission, which was named Mission of the Year by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
"We redesigned the [satellite's] splitter auxiliary device for this mission," said Lan. "NPS plays an integral part in pushing the limits of existing [small satellite] technology and the knowledge base in the aerospace industry."
The Planetary Society's citizen-funded LightSail Spacecraft Test Mission was one of 11 small satellite projects nominated for recognition during the 29th Annual AIAA SmallSat Conference in Logan, Utah, Aug. 13. NPS collaborated with California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and both government and industry representatives on the project.
SSAG has had a hand in putting 33 small satellites into space. This was its first launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla.