THE capsule carrying Bahrain’s first satellite arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday morning.
The CRS-24 Cargo Dragon capsule docked at the IDA-3 zenith docking port at 11.41am, approximately 49 minutes ahead of schedule.
The nanosatellite, named ‘Light-1’ will now be prepared for orbit by the seven-person ISS team and deployed next month. “The successful arrival of the Light-1 satellite at the ISS is the culmination of a trailblazing partnership between UAE and Bahrain,” an NSSA spokesperson said.
“It is also an achievement of co-operation between the UAE Space Agency, Bahrain’s National Space Science Agency (NSSA), Khalifa University of Science and Research and New York University Abu Dhabi.
“It reflects the depth of ties between both nations, and the strategic partnership in space, science and technology.”
The nanosatellite was part of the 3,000-kg payload aboard the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, which took off on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA.
The partially reusable rocket was made up of three key elements– first and second stage booster engines as well as the Dragon-9 capsule.
The first stage booster separated 150 seconds after launch, as part of the Main Engine Cut-off phase. About 10 seconds later, the second booster fired up while the first prepared for recovery.
Less than 10 minutes after the Falcon-9 rocket launched, the first stage B1069-1 booster landed safely on the drone ship named ‘Just Read The Instructions’, which was waiting in the Atlantic Ocean. This marked the 100th successful booster recovery for SpaceX.
Meanwhile, the Dragon-9 capsule and the second booster entered nominal orbit and after verification, the second engine cut off, leaving the capsule to begin its 22-hour trip to the ISS.
Alongside the nanosatellite aboard the Dragon-9 capsule are Christmas gifts and dinners for ISS astronauts as well as 500 research experiments. It was part of the cargo received by Nasa astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn.
Light-1 will be launched into orbit in co-operation with the Japanese space agency. It will then start the Middle East’s first scientific mission to study terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, in lightning storms and cumulus clouds.
The data will be made available through the Open Universe global programme.
Light-1’s state-of-the-art detection system could inspire larger gamma-ray missions. It makes use of ‘scintillator’ crystals which emit light when crossed by a subatomic particle. The emitted light is collected by ‘photomultiplier’ sensors and then processed and recorded by a dedicated computer.
The assembled detection system is unique to Light-1, and was put together by a 40-person team, nine of whom are Bahraini NSSA researchers.
naman@gulfweekly.com
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