EcAMSat

EcAMSat, or E. coli Anti Microbial Satellite, is NASA's first 6U CubeSat, developed to investigate the effects of microgravity on the antibiotic resistance of E. coli. The spacecraft was launched aboard an Orbital ATK Antares rocket from Wallops Flight Facility on 12 November 2017, and was deployed from the International Space Station on 20 November 2017.

EcAMSat

Mission type	Biological research
Operator	Santa Clara University
COSPAR ID	1998-067NG
SATCAT no.	43019
Website	EcAMSat
Mission duration	> 120 Days 152.5 hr Main Experiment. [1]
Spacecraft properties
Bus	NASA NanoSat 1.0 Bus
Manufacturer	NASA
Launch mass	10.7 kilograms (24 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	November 12, 2017, 12:19 UTC[2][3]
Rocket	Antares 230
Launch site	MARS LP-0A
Contractor	Orbital ATK
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	405.8 kilometres (252.2 mi)
Apogee altitude	413.5 kilometres (256.9 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	92.6 minutes
Epoch	November 28, 2017[4]

Background

During the development of the PharmaSat spacecraft, two identical flight units were built and brought to the launch site, with the FLT-2 unit being the one ultimately launched as "PharmaSat". The FLT-1 unit sat in storage, and was later put to use as a NASA Ames Research Center Mission of Opportunity (MoO) flight, selected for funding under the Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity program. Originally named "PharmaSat-ECAM",[5] EcAMSat was developed from both legacy hardware and software from the PharmaSat mission.

EcAMSat is the fifth mission to utilize NASA Ames Research Center's NanoSat 1.0 bus, which has flown on GeneSat-1, PharmaSat, NanoSail-D2, and O/OREOS.

Operations

EcAMSat is operated by Santa Clara University's Robotic Systems Lab in Santa Clara, California. After deployment, first amateur radio beacon packets were received by amateur radio operator JA0CAW[6] on 20 November 2017, and Santa Clara University closed the S-Band radio link for the first time on 21 November 2017.

EcAMSat transmits an AX.25 beacon packet once every 5 seconds at 437.100 megahertz[7]

See also

• CubeSat
• PharmaSat
• GeneSat-1
• O/OREOS
• NanoSail-D2

References

1. "E. coli AntiMicrobial Satellite (EcAMSat): Science Payload System Development and Test" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-11-28.
2. "Space station cargo shipment blasts off aboard Antares rocket". Retrieved 2017-11-28.
3. "Antares launches Cygnus spacecraft to ISS". Retrieved 2017-11-28.
4. "Satellite Catalog". Retrieved 2017-11-28.
5. "Research and Technology Implications and Applications for Very Small (MesoScale) Spacecraft" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-11-28.
6. "EcAMSat Mission Dashboard". Retrieved 2017-11-28.
7. "EcAMSat Beacon Packet Decoding" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-11-28.