May 21 2005
From The Space Library
A California Launch Vehicle Education Initiative (CALVEIN) research team successfully launched and recovered the Prospector 6 (P6) test vehicle at the Mojave Test Area owned and operated by the Reaction Research Society. The test was part of a joint industry/academic effort to develop a low-cost Nanosat Launch Vehicle, a booster capable of delivering 22-pound (10-kilogram) payloads to low Earth orbit. Researchers at Garvey Spacecraft Corporation of Long Beach, California, and California State University at Long Beach had designed and built the partially reusable 27-foot (8-meter) P6 test vehicle, which had flown to just under 3,000 feet (914 meters), a milestone toward the team's goal. P6 had also carried student payloads from across the country: a mini-DV camera to capture on-board video of the entire flight sequence; a real-time telemetry system that adapted off-the-shelf Wi-Fi technology to relay key propulsion-system parameters; and a measurement-logging package to record acceleration, pressure, and temperature data that the research team would use to assess the vehicle's performance. (Leonard David, “High Hopes for Low-Cost Rocket After Successful Launch Test,” Space.com, 27 May 2005, http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050526_prospector6_test.html (accessed 16 September 2009).)
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