Solar sail satellite returns to Earth

NanoSail-D2, the solar sail satellite deployed in low-Earth orbit, has successfully reentered into the Earth's atmosphere, says NASA. After analyzing data about its return, NASA has announced that the satellite NanoSail-D2 has reentered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up. Far from being merely the end of its usefulness, NanoSail's reentry was actually the main goal of its mission. Deorbit and reentry occurred on Sept. 17, six months later than initially predicted, and allowed NASA scientists to observe the behavior of small solar sail in low-Earth orbit and during reentry. Engineers hope to use small solar sail technology to control the future reentry of satellites and space debris. More

(Source: DigitalJournal.com - Dec 3)