VCSI In the News

January 2010	SatMagazine: January 2010 Edition - Small Satellites By SatMagazine "For additional proof as to the interest in small satellites, let’s take a look at NASA. The agency has just partnered with Dynetics and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation, or VCSI, and has successfully completed environmental testing of the Fast, Affordable Science and Technology Satellite, or FASTSAT- HSV01. A NASA team built this small, low-cost satellite called FASTSAT, and it’s almost ready to fly. But, why name it FASTSAT? It’s certainly not because it travels fast. It’s because it was built in a hurry. The FASTSAT team built this prototype in a mere 10-½ months for the relatively thrifty sum of US$4 million dollars."
16 December 2009	Marshall Space Flight Center Works with Dynetics to Develop Fast Satellite Prototype By Shelby G. Spires "Dubbed the FastSat, the small satellite will be able to loft six instruments that will study the environment and will play host to a smaller satellite "or cube sat that will deploy a solar sail that will be used to study solar wind and propulsions," Cook said. The $10 million satellite was developed by Dynetics, in partnership with Marshall Space Flight Center and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation here. "It's all homegrown," Cook said. "The design, the testing and the development all happened here. It took about 10 months, and that's pretty good."
8 December 2009	NASA and Contractor Team Develop One Fast Satellite By Kimberly Newton "NASA has partnered with Dynetics and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation, or VCSI, both in Huntsville, Ala., to successfully complete environmental testing of the Fast, Affordable Science and Technology Satellite, or FASTSAT- HSV01. FASTSAT-HSV01 is a unique platform that can carry multiple small instruments or experiments to low-Earth orbit on a wide range of expendable launch vehicles for a fraction of the cost traditionally required for such missions. The satellite or "bus" will carry six small payloads, including three technology demonstration experiments and three atmospheric research instruments."
25 November 2009	Autonomous Lunar Lander Hover Test By Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics "Just for us, NASA drop-tested a lunar lander model that will be used to create a robot that can guide itself to the moon's surface. The 3-foot-tall, 270-pound robot dropped from 10.5 feet and used compressed-air thrusters to set down. The hardware will be used to research control algorithms for other lunar landers, about the same size as those that could be used by NASA in a program called the International Lunar Network. Members of the program, which is being studied now, could each land robots on various parts of the moon for coordinated, comprehensive studies. The lander pulses its thrusters to counter earth's gravity, as well as those used to control its landing and to rotate. The next step is using a more energetic propellant in the lander's thrusters."
11 November 2009	NASA 'Drops' Next Generation Robotic Lander During Autonomous Tests By Kimberly Newton "The Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project is a team of industry, government and not-for-profit collaborators, including the Marshall Center, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation in Huntsville. This team is designing and building the "next generation" of robotic landers that can carry a broad range of science payloads and devices, including geophysical measurement instruments, volatile measurement instruments or possibly lunar sample returns."
26 October 2009	Fastsat Instruments Shipped to NASA Marshall for Tests and Launch Preparation Published by Klaus Schmidt "The satellite was created at NASA Marshall with the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation, in partnership with Dynetics, a corporate partner. "Engineers at NASA Marshall will test TTI, Mini-ME and PISA to ensure they can withstand the vibrations of launch, and the frigid temperatures in space," said FASTSAT Project Manager Mark Boudreaux at NASA Marshall."
19 September 2009	Lunar Lander Test Article Glides Above the Safety Net Published by Klaus Schmidt "NASA MSFC in partnership with the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation (VCSI) has successfully demonstrated the first autonomous flight of a new robotic lander test article -- one that will aid in the development of a new generation of multi-use landers for future robotic space exploration. During recent testing, the lander's thrusters operated precisely as planned and the vehicle has performed a 9.8 second flight, demonstrating it can fly autonomously while safely controlling itself."