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Thu, Sep 27, 2007

Trailing-Tether Test Hits Snag

Imagine A Space-Kite...

A test of a novel technique for atmospheric re-entry from space ran into a snag Tuesday. Literally.

The Associated Press reports a joint European-Russian mission was testing the use of a 19-mile-long trailing tether, deployed from the spool of an orbiting spacecraft like a yo-yo, to suspend a package, then release it into a controlled descent to an earth landing in Kazakhstan.

The test package, a 12-pound sphere about the size of a beach ball, was released on Tuesday, but the cable got stuck after reeling out only about 5 miles below the Russian-built Foton-M3 spacecraft which had carried it aloft.

Scientists hope to salvage the experiment, once they calculate exactly how far below the host ship the ball is suspended.

The spacecraft is the second Young Engineers Satellite, prepared by nearly 500 university students from Europe, Japan, North America and Australia.

It was launched into orbit September 14. The tether is about one-50th of an inch thick, and is made of Dyneema, which the European Space Agency says is used by kite surfers.

FMI: www.esa.int

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