NanoSail-D

NanoSail-D was a NASA mission to deploy a 10 m² solar sail from a CubeSat. The mission ended on August 2nd, 2008, when the Falcon 1 rocket carrying it failed to reach orbit. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) plans to launch the backup NanoSail-D spacecraft as a payload of the FASTSAT-HSV01 mission.

References

• Project website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/nanosaild.html
• Science@NASA article: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/26jun_nanosaild.htm
• Discovery Channel story: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/09/solar-sail.html
• YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1Pf0uMSug
• NASA Marshall Space Flight Center: NASA and Contractor Team Develop One Fast Satellite