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Alexander (satellite)

Alexander

Alexander satellite
Mission type	Technology demonstration
Operator	NASA Ames Research Center
COSPAR ID	2013-016C
SATCAT no.	39144
Mission duration	7 days (planned) 6 days (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	CubeSat
Bus	PhoneSat-2.0
Manufacturer	NASA Ames Research Center Spaceflight Industries ISIS
Launch mass	0.5 kg (1.1 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	21 April 2013, 21:00 UTC
Rocket	Antares 110 A-ONE
Launch site	Wallops Island MARS, LP-0A
Contractor	Orbital Sciences
End of mission
Decay date	27 April 2013
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[1]
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	218 km
Apogee altitude	228 km
Inclination	51.64°
Period	88.95 minutes

Alexander, also known as PhoneSat 2.0 BetaorPhoneSat v2a is a technology demonstration satellite operated by NASA's Ames Research Center, which was launched in April 2013. Part of the PhoneSat programme, it was one of the first three PhoneSat spacecraft, and the first Phonesat-2.0 satellite, to be launched.

A PhoneSat-2.0 satellite, Alexander was built to the single-unit (1U) CubeSat specification, and measures 10 cm (3.9 in) in each dimension. The satellite is based on an off-the-shelf Samsung Electronics Nexus S smartphone which serves in place of an onboard computer. The satellite is equipped with a two-way S-band transponder and solar cells for power generation. The spacecraft uses the phone's gyroscopes, along with a GPS receiver, to determine its position and orientation, and a system of reaction wheels and magnetorquer coils for attitude control.^[2]

Alexander was named after Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. The two other PhoneSat spacecraft launched aboard the same rocket were named Graham and Bell.^[3] The three PhoneSat spacecraft, along with the commercial Dove 1 satellite, were launched as secondary payloads aboard the maiden flight of the Antares launch vehicle; flight A-ONE. The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator.^[4]

Liftoff occurred at 21:00 UTC on 21 April 2013, from Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), following attempts on 17 and 20 April which had been scrubbed due to an umbilical problem and high-level winds respectively.^[5] The launch was conducted by Orbital Sciences Corporation, however the CubeSats were launched under a contract with Spaceflight Services, using dispensers produced by Innovative Solutions In Space (ISIS). Alexander, Graham and Bell were deployed from a single ISIPod dispenser, while Dove 1 was deployed from a second such dispenser.^[6]

On 27 April 2013, the satellite was confirmed to have burned up in the atmosphere, with instruments still running up until then.^[7]

References[edit]

^ "PhoneSat Flight Demonstrations - NASA's Smartphone Nanosatellite". NASA. 16 February 2013. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.