O/OREOS Nanosatellite Inspection
From left, Charlie Friedericks and Giovanni Minelli, with the NASA’s Ames Research Center inspect the Ames-managed O/OREOS nano satellite at Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska, Oct. 17, 2010, in advance of the satellite's planned launch into orbit.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force/Lou Hernandez
NASA Nanosatellite Studies Life in Space, Demonstrates Technology
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA is preparing to fly a small satellite about the size of a loaf of bread that could help answer astrobiology’s fundamental questions about the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. The nanosatellite, known as Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses, or O/OREOS, is a secondary payload aboard a U.S. Air Force four-stage Minotaur IV rocket planned for launch on Nov. 19, 2010.