About the Experiment:  Space Technology 6, part of NASA's New Millennium Program, hosts two advanced, experimental technologies. One, the Inertial Stellar Compass, incorporates a miniaturized camera and gyro system. NASA is developing this technology in partnership with a commercial technology provider.

Project Manager: Arthur B. Chmielewski, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Experiment Manager:  Arthur B. Chmielewski, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Technology Provider:  William Wyman, Draper Laboratory

About the Technology: The Inertial Stellar Compass uses an ultra-low power and low mass miniature star camera and microelectromechanical gyros to enable a spacecraft to determine its orientation in space.

Major Contractors/Contributors:  NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Draper Laboratory

Launch Date:  December 16, 2006

Launch Vehicle:  Minotaur I

Launch Site: NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA

Launch Mass: Three kilograms (nearly seven pounds)

Communications Bandwidth:  15 megabytes total

Max Data Rate:  TBD

Max Power:   seven watts

Outreach Coordinator/Manager:  Nancy J. Leon, New Millennium Program, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Contact for more info:  W. Wyman, Draper Laboratory

Date information last updated: July 2007