(The nano satellites pictured floating away from the station – Photo Credit: Reid Wiseman/NASA)
International Space Station Flight Engineers Alexander Gerst and Reid Wiseman have deployed a series of miniature satellites into space on a mission to photograph Earth from orbit.
Gerst operated the Japanese Experiment Module’s airlock and slide table, moving the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform containing the CubeSat deployer mechanism, outside of the station.
(Alex de-pressurizes the Japanese airlock in preparation for deployment – Photo Credit: Reid Wiseman/NASA)
The Japanese robotic arm moved the assembly into position and a pair of Planet Labs Dove satellites were successfully ejected into low-Earth orbit.
The nanosatellites capture and provide images of Earth to a variety of users. The satellites focus on areas within 52 degrees of Earth’s equator, where most human populations and agricultural areas are located, and they revisit the same areas more frequently than any existing government or commercial satellites. T
The images have several humanitarian and environmental applications, from monitoring deforestation and urbanization to improving natural disaster relief and agricultural yields in developing nations.
16 CubeSats out of a ‘flock’ of 28 are expected to be deployed from the station in the near future.
Wiseman was located in the station’s cupola to photograph the Earth-imaging satellites as they floated away from the complex but he also managed to capture this brilliant video.
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