Salizhan Sharipov and Leroy Chiao left the ISS in order to launch a nanosatellite

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

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Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and American Leroy Chiao, crewmembers on the International Space Station, left the ISS in order to launch a nanosatellite, TNS-0, which will serve as the prototype for future super-small craft. Sharipov sent the satellite on its mission by simply pushing it off himself like a basketball, Kommersant reported. The TNS-0 was launched opposite the ISS's movement, to guarantee that it would not return to the station. An hour and a half later, after completing its first independent revolution around the Earth, the TNS-0 sent its first signal, meaning it was functioning normally. The nanosatellite is expected to last two to three months in orbit, and then enter the denser atmospheric layer and burn up. The experience of the TSN-0 will help to develop miniature craft for communication, monitoring the Earth and obtaining weather data. Specialists from the Moscow Russian Scientific Research Institute developed the TNS-0 for Space Instrument Engineering (RNII KP). The term "nanosatellite" relates to spacecraft weighing between 1 and 10 kilograms. The TNS-0 weighs 4.5 kilograms. It is designed to check up the data transmission line operated by the GlobalStar satellite communications system. The satellite consists of a lithium battery, two modems, an antenna and an on-board timer. It proved too costly to launch the TNS-0 via a carrier rocket, since a separate jettisoning system would have been required. RNII KP specialists agreed that it would be launched from aboard the space station. The satellite was delivered to the ISS in the Progress M-52 cargo ship on March 2. Russian cosmonauts manually launched nanosatellites in 1997 and 1998. Models of the first artificial Earth satellites were manually released into space from the Mir station. However, such occurrences are rare, experts note.

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