Good view of ‘Nanosail-D2’ last night….

NanoSail-D


Scouting the Skies last night was a real turn up for the books. It was a very clear night and a good night for Astronomers. Of course i was awaiting the International Space Station, currently with the Shuttle Discovery. Perseus and Orion were really clear when I saw for the first time ‘Nanosail-D2”.

NanoSail-D2 is a small satellite which will be used by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre and Ames Research Centre to study the deployment of a solar sail in space. It is a three-unit Cube-Sat measuring 30 by 10 by 10 centimetres (12 × 3.9 × 3.9 inches), with a mass of 4 kilograms (8.8 lb). Its solar sail has an area of 10 square metres (110 sq ft), and was deployed in around five seconds. It passed right through Orion and what a great catch, even if i did miss the ISS through the excitement hi! You too can track its progress by clicking the image above, Good Luck!

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Charles M0OXO

I was born in the 1960’s and have lived all my life in the Coal Mining Town of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, Northern England. My parents were all from this area of Yorkshire and my father worked in the main Industry of the local Collieries as a face worker. I have been married to my wife Debbie for 35+ years and we have two children and two grandchildren.

I have been licensed for around 20 years after my interest was re-kindled when I retired from my role as a Police Officer within South Yorkshire Police Force. The latter few years were spent as Radio Operator in the Force Operations Control Room at Sheffield, before my career ended.

IOTA chasing is (and always has been) my real passion, as climbing the ladder to reach Honour Roll status was always my main aim. The 1000 Islands Trophy is still out of reach but I am heading in the right direction. I am currently a Board Member of IOTA Ltd and IREF.

In my free time I am a keen Photographer of Wildlife, Aviation, (anything really) but the QSL Manager role is my main passion within Ham Radio.

https://www.m0oxo.com/
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