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News  YES2 sets new world records
On 25 September 2007 , the second Young Engineers Satellite (YES2) was cut free from its wire tether and plunged into Earth’s atmosphere. It was never seen or heard from again. However, the European engineers and scientists who took part in the mission now believe that they have solved the mystery of YES2. The evidence shows that the pioneering, student-led experiment has earned a place in the record books. YES2 was flown on board Russia ’s Foton-M3 spacecraft. It was made up of a 6 kg capsule attached to the end of a 0.5 mm thick tether. Once the tether unwound to a length of 30 km, the Fotino capsule was to be released. Swinging beneath a parachute, it would eventually touch down on the plains of Kazakhstan . YES2 was designed to demonstrate ‘SpaceMail’ – the ability to send parcels back to Earth from an orbiting spacecraft by using a capsule on a tether instead of one fitted with rocket engines. Unfortunately, YES2 went missing. After piecing together the clues, the “detectives” from ESA and European industry are now confident that they have solved most of the mysteries surrounding YES2. Their in-depth analysis confirms that its tether unwound to a record-breaking length of almost 32 km. The capsule was then released, but it entered the atmosphere at a slightly steeper angle than planned. Although no signals were received, the investigators believe that it landed about 200 km from the target area. So YES2 now holds the world records for deployment of the longest space tether and for the first ever deorbit of a re-entry capsule from a tether.
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