News | 2007 News Archive

Early Ammonia Servicer Tossed from Space Station

08/01/2007

 

The Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS), fabricated by AASC in 2000, was jettisoned into space in July, 2007. After a long life on a NASA space station, the equipment was no longer needed and plans were made for its removal, via tossing it from the space station towards Earth. The EAS weighs approximately 1400 lbs, and was jettisoned at the low speed of one mile per hour.

Discarding the equipment in space rather than shipping it back to Earth for recycling was determined to be the best process due to time and space constraints. Now that the EAS is out in space, it will be tracked by NASA for nearly a year until it enters the atmosphere. The majority of the equipment will burn up completely, but some will most likely reach the Earth’s surface.

To watch the EAS be discarded, please go to: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

http://www.nasa.gov/lb/mission_pages/station/multimedia/index.html

Related Story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15817106/

Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation (AASC) is a full service provider of complex composite and metal bonded structures and assemblies for both military and commercial applications. Based in Stockton, California, AASC is classified as a small business with approximately 300 employees, designs and fabricates critical, lightweight, high-performance, engineered structural assemblies for the aerospace industry. The company is ISO 9001:2000 and AS9100, third party certified and has been in business since 1956. For more information, visit the company’s web site at www.aascworld.com.