A $20,000,000 spacecraft launched by NASA earlier this year is now tumbling uncontrollably through space after suffering a malfunction.
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) left Earth behind on April 23, when it boosted off from New Zealand on a mission to test a form of spaceflight which uses sunlight to fuel its propulsive power, similarly to how a sailboat is powered by wind in a sail.
The craft comes as NASA is developing new deployable structures and materials technologies for low-cost missions in deep space, with the solar sails eliminating the need for conventional rocket propellant.
Everything was going well with the mission as the craft was successfully delivered to a type of low-Earth orbit called a Sun-synchronous orbit, NASA reported on April 30, at which time systems showed the spacecraft as ‘operational and healthy’.
#CAPSTONE is on its way to the Moon! 🚀 🌔
The spacecraft launched from New Zealand this morning on a @RocketLab Electron rocket. Stay tuned for mission milestones and updates on the way to lunar orbit! Learn more: https://t.co/PyMg1vrN8d pic.twitter.com/bixFAGCV2J
— NASA Ames (@NASAAmes) June 28, 2022
ACS3 then started preparing to deploy its sails, and on August 29 NASA shared an update to confirm that ACS3 was ‘fully deployed in space after a successful test of its sail-hoisting boom system’.
To accommodate for any changing dynamics as the sail unfurled, the mission team in charge of the craft deactivated its attitude control system, which help it maintain a particular orientation in space, before rolling out the booms.
The solar sail has now fully extended, but the mission team has not reenaged the attitude control system because they spotted ‘what appears to be a slight bend in one of the four booms’ attached to the sail.
In its latest update issued on October 22, NASA said the mission team was assessing the bend which is believed to have occurred as the booms and sail were pulled taut to the spacecraft during deployment.
The NASA team noted a bend in one of the booms (NASA)
Though analysis of the craft indicates the bend might have partially straightened in the weeks since the booms were deployed, the craft remains without its attitude control system, meaning it is now tumbling through space.
While the idea of a huge ship-like craft hurtling among the stars is quite concerning, NASA is hopeful the issue won’t hinder future plans for ACS3.
The team is now working to reposition the spacecraft while keeping it in low power mode until its solar panels are in a better position towards the sun. By keeping it in low power mode, the team will be able to conserve energy for operations such as communications with mission control.
Though the bent boom has caused a snag in the operation, the team noted that the primary objective of the ACS3 is to test deployment of the booms in space, meaning the issue can be used to inform future missions.
