Dailymail.Com By Ellyn Lapointe 10/23/2024
A new NASA spaceship is tumbling through space uncontrollably as engineers on the ground work to fix an issue that caused the $20 million craft to lose control.
The agency's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3), a craft with four reflective 'sails' designed to test a new type of propulsion system, hit a snag when it unfurled the sails.
Engineers noticed a slight bend in one of the 'booms,' or structural beams, that support the sails, impacting its ability to stay on course.
NASA has kept ACS3's attitude control system - which controls the orientation of a spacecraft - turned off engineers assess this damage.
As a result, the microwave-sized spacecraft is currently careening through space.
This mission is a test of new spaceflight technology that uses the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, similar to the way a sailboat is powered by the wind.
One day, it could reduce the extremely high cost of deep space missions. But first, NASA will have to wrangle its runaway craft.
ACS3 launched from New Zealand aboard Rocket Lab's Electron rocket on April 23.
Just a few months after the launch, the spacecraft's sail got stuck when an onboard power monitor detected higher-than-expected motor currents and paused the unfurling process.
In late August, NASA successfully deployed the sails in a second attempt.
But before doing so, engineers deactivated the spacecraft's attitude control system in order to accommodate dynamic changes as the sails unfolded. It's been turned off ever since.
More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13993583/NASAs-new-20m-spaceship-hurtling-space-uncontrollably-malfunctioning.html
