ASTRO, NextSat reunite once more as Orbital Express concludes

It seems like it was just yesterday when ASTRO and NextSat took to the skies galaxy in hopes of making their creators proud, but now the time has come for the two to wind down and sip exotic liquids from an umbrella-adorned glass. Thankfully, this story has somewhat of a gleeful ending, though it wasn't looking so rosy just days ago; on June 27th, the two parted ways and managed to drift some seven-kilometers apart before ASTRO used its onboard camera system (and a bit of help from ground control) to navigate back to NextSat, where it then proceeded to give its space-bound buddy a theoretical noogie. Sadly, this final scenario marks the final test in DARPA's Orbital Express demonstration, which means that the two machines now have an ominous decommission plan to look forward to.

[Via NewScientist]

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 5th 2007 8:27AM]

Now we may find if satellites can be trained to sort tiny screws in space.

[Chris @ Jul 5th 2007 8:46AM]

That is how I want to go... burning up on re-entry.

[brian Pope @ Jul 5th 2007 9:48AM]

Ummm-kay... normally L O V E the snappy-pithy style of Engadget, but this story is so wrapped up in cutesy I can't tell what it's about... why were the satellites maneuvered, what was their intended function, etc.

[Kenundrum @ Jul 5th 2007 12:07PM]

If you read the linked previous article you'll know that they were in a test designed to prove if satellites could autonomously dock with each other, share fuel, and make repairs while in orbit. you know... one more step towards welcoming our high flying fluid exchanging robotic overlords. ;-)