MightySat 1

Launch data: Designation 25551 / 98069C Launch date 15 Dec 1998 Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Shuttle STS-88 Mission Technology Earth orbit on: Perigee/Apogee 380/392 km Inclination 51.6° Period 92 min

Specifications:

Mission details:

• Mightysat is a small satellite with a mass of about 70 kg, built by Orbital Sciences/McLean, totest advanced technologies for autonomous micro satellites. It carries a suite of technology experiments for USAF Phillips Lab. Mightysat and SAC-A share a Hitchhiker avionics box. SEM-7 is a canister with high school experiments; G-093 has a physics experiment for the U. of Michigan.
• Also known as P97-2, the satellite was spring released from a Hitchiker canister on STS-88 Space Shuttle flight.
• Carries 5 experiments:
  • Advanced Composite Structure: its the satellite's structure.
  • Advanced Solar Cell Experiment (ASCE): to test the performance of a new type of solar cells made of Gallium. Indium Phosphide layers and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) [triple junction]
    
  • Microsystem and Packaging for Low Power Electronics (MAPLE): will test advanced microelectronics and electronics packaging techniques.
  • Shape-Memory Actuated Release Device (SMARD): to demonstrate a new class of low-shock release devices.
  • Micro-Particle Impact Detector (MPID): to measure the impact of orbital debris
• The SAC-A and Mightysat satellites were ejected from the payload bay on December 14 and 15, 1998.

End of life: