1 00:00:05,430 --> 00:00:11,830 \h A quartet of small satellites flew high above California's Mojave Desert on June 15 on a 2 00:00:11,830 --> 00:00:18,230 \h demonstration mission to study the launch environment all the way from liftoff to landing. 3 00:00:18,230 --> 00:00:23,850 \h The four-inch-cube spacecraft, better known as CubeSats, are being developed to help simplify 4 00:00:23,850 --> 00:00:30,920 \h and lower the cost of small-satellite missions that could fly on smaller, dedicated rockets. 5 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,230 \h All four CubeSats were outfitted with special instrumentation to monitor flight 6 00:00:35,230 --> 00:00:42,090 \h characteristics aboard the Prospector 18 rocket, built by Garvey Spacecraft Corporation. 7 00:00:42,090 --> 00:00:45,960 \h One of the satellites, CP-9, belongs to California Polytechnic 8 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,430 \h State University at San Luis Obispo. 9 00:00:49,430 --> 00:00:55,730 \h It flew alongside StangSat, created by students at Florida's Merritt Island High School. 10 00:00:55,730 --> 00:00:58,500 \h Garrett Skrobot/High Altitude Demonstration Mission Project Manager: NASA We're now bringing together students, 11 00:00:58,500 --> 00:01:01,120 \h experiments from other centers, onto a launch vehicle. 12 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,700 \h So it's very exciting to see these young people move into industry, 13 00:01:04,700 --> 00:01:07,800 \h build a rocket, and now flying, students who 14 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,840 \h have built satellites, and merge these two together. 15 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,870 \h Both CP-9 and StangSat were designed to work together, 16 00:01:15,870 --> 00:01:21,350 \h recording the launch environment and communicating with each other through onboard Wi-Fi. 17 00:01:21,350 --> 00:01:24,120 \h They're slated to fly aboard a Falcon 9 rocket during 18 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:30,120 \h SpaceX's fifth commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. 19 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:31,760 \h Joshua Zirkle/Stangsat Program Manager Merritt Island High School: We are having our first test 20 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:37,220 \h for the StangSat to help show that everything we've done up to this point has been correct, 21 00:01:37,220 --> 00:01:41,600 \h and that our ideas are sound, and our techniques are sound, 22 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:46,200 \h and that what we are planning to do is in fact going to work. 23 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:51,400 \h Another satellite, called PhoneSat, was built by NASA's Ames Research Center. 24 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,880 \h It relies on smartphone features like power, memory, 25 00:01:54,880 --> 00:02:00,920 \h onboard camera, and small size as a platform for low-cost spacecraft design. 26 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,580 \h And the Rocket University program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center contributed the 27 00:02:05,580 --> 00:02:11,260 \h RUBICS-1 satellite, short for Rocket University Broad Initiatives CubeSat. 28 00:02:11,260 --> 00:02:15,550 \h RUBICS was outfitted with a suite of instruments to monitor the performance of a new, 29 00:02:15,550 --> 00:02:18,940 \h lightweight deployer built by Tyvak. 30 00:02:18,940 --> 00:02:23,310 \h CalPoly also serves as a liaison between the payload providers and 31 00:02:23,310 --> 00:02:28,920 \h NASA's Launch Services Program, and oversees the satellites' integration with the rocket. 32 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:33,060 \h In the final days before liftoff, the Prospector rocket arrived at 33 00:02:33,060 --> 00:02:36,450 \h the Friends of Amateur Rocketry launch site in the Mojave Desert. 34 00:02:36,450 --> 00:02:40,970 \h The CubeSat carriers were attached to the bulkhead in the top of the rocket. 35 00:02:40,970 --> 00:02:47,960 \h Finally, the day before liftoff, the vehicle was raised into a vertical position -- poised for flight. 36 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:53,700 \h Launch day dawned bright and early and final preparations began. 37 00:02:53,700 --> 00:03:00,120 \h At 10:52 a.m. Pacific Time, the rocket's single, liquid-fueled engine ignited, 38 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:06,440 \h and the mission was off to a roaring start, reaching a peak altitude of about 9,000 feet. 39 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:11,880 \h The rocket's parachute deployed prematurely and the vehicle continued on its trajectory, 40 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,700 \h coasting and tumbling to a hard landing on its side. 41 00:03:16,700 --> 00:03:21,680 \h But despite the rough ride, all four CubeSats were recovered. 42 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:27,390 \h PhoneSat and RUBICS received data in flight, but sustained structural damage. 43 00:03:27,390 --> 00:03:31,230 \h CP-9 and StangSat fared better, and their teams are working 44 00:03:31,230 --> 00:03:34,740 \h to recover as much information as possible. 45 00:03:34,740 --> 00:03:36,260 \h Brian Robusto/Merritt Island High School: Right now they're taking apart our 46 00:03:36,260 --> 00:03:38,820 \h satellite to see and analyze what happened. 47 00:03:38,820 --> 00:03:42,810 \h We're taking very small steps and documenting everything, also picturing, 48 00:03:42,810 --> 00:03:45,670 \h taking pictures of everything to make sure that we 49 00:03:45,670 --> 00:03:48,430 \h can recreate the scenarios and we can always look back to it. 50 00:03:48,430 --> 00:03:53,680 \h A flight data recorder aboard the Prospector rocket also may hold important clues. 51 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,350 \h Tiffany Davis/Stanford University: I was able to recover my data-logger payload. 52 00:03:57,350 --> 00:04:02,250 \h Little broken, but I was able to get the data card off of it, 53 00:04:02,250 --> 00:04:07,110 \h and so we do have data, which is a success. 54 00:04:07,110 --> 00:04:11,010 \h Rather than a setback, the flight is considered a success -- 55 00:04:11,010 --> 00:04:13,180 \h and a valuable learning opportunity, 56 00:04:13,180 --> 00:04:18,450 \h giving teams the chance to test their designs in an unexpected environment. 57 00:04:18,450 --> 00:04:21,950 \h John Garvey/Garvey Spacecraft Corp.: On the plus side, talking to the principal investigators, 58 00:04:21,950 --> 00:04:25,690 \h the payload folks, most of them got data -- interesting data, 59 00:04:25,690 --> 00:04:27,590 \h probably more than if we'd had a nominal flight. 60 00:04:27,590 --> 00:04:30,020 \h So they're all busy looking away, trying to see what they can do -- which, 61 00:04:30,020 --> 00:04:32,160 \h as a learning experience, is great. 62 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,740 \h More flights are planned as NASA and its partners continue the quest for a faster, 63 00:04:36,740 --> 00:04:41,060 \h low-cost alternative -- by delivering CubeSats into space