Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer

DANDE
The DANDE satellite in its launch configuration.
Mission typeTechnology
OperatorUniversity of Colorado Boulder
Colorado Space Grant Consortium
CU Dept of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
AFRL
STP
COSPAR ID2013-055C Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.39267
Websitespacegrant.colorado.edu/boulderstudents/boulderprojects/dande
Mission duration1.5 years
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass50 kilograms (110 lb)
Dry mass38 kilograms (84 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date29 September 2013, 16:00:13 (2013-09-29UTC16:00:13) UTC[1]
RocketFalcon 9 v1.1[2]
Launch siteVandenberg SLC-4E
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
Last contactc. 8 February 2014 (2014-02-09)[3]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude331 kilometres (206 mi)[4]
Apogee altitude1,426 kilometres (886 mi)[4]
Inclination80.99 degrees[4]
Period102.310 minutes[4]
Epoch24 January 2015, 03:43:37 UTC[4]
Instruments
Neutral Mass Spectrometer and Accelerometer

DANDE (or Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer) is a 50 kg class spacecraft developed by the University of Colorado Boulder was the winner of the 5th iteration of the Air Force Research Laboratory's University Nanosat Program.[5]

Due to a failure in a spacecraft system, the ground team was unable to actively command the satellite and spacecraft became just a passive object in Earth orbit by which some passive drag characteristics might be deduced.

  1. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Falcon rocket debut delayed". 13 September 2013.
  3. ^ "As of Feb 8th..." Twitter.com. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e "DANDE Satellite details 2013-055C NORAD 39267". N2YO. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  5. ^ "CU-Boulder Students Win First Place in National Nanosatellite Competition". University of Colorado Boulder. 22 January 2009.