Sfera (satellite)

Sfera (TEKh-44) is a small passive satellite deployed during a spacewalk from the ISS in August 2012.[1]

Description

Also called the Vektor-T calibration sphere, the Sfera satellite is used to determine the density of the upper atmosphere by measuring how much drag occurs when the satellite passes through it.[2]

TEKh-44 is a shiny sphere 53 cm (20.8 inches) across weighing 14 kg (~31 pounds).[3]

Re-entry

It re-entered the atmosphere in late November 2012.[4]

gollark: ... what?
gollark: Thus, MANY highly expensive capacitors are needed for toasting.
gollark: Well, doesn't energy scale quadratically with voltage in capacitors?
gollark: A chemically powered toaster would effectively just be a mildly regulated flamethrower.
gollark: Perhaps an electrical toaster isn't a great idea and we could use a CHEMICAL toaster!

See also

References
  1. Gunter - Sfera
  2. What a ball-shaped Sfera satellite looks like - ESA
  3. ISS Exp. 32 - Russian EVA-31 Updates Archived 2013-12-25 at the Wayback Machine
  4. SFERA


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.