FAST STATUS REPORT #1: SPACECRAFT SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED  
 
After a successful launch at 2:47:26 PDT this morning, NASA's Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) Explorer 
spacecraft, has been placed in a 217 by 2,597 mile (350 by 4,180 kilometer) orbit. FAST was launched into 
orbit at the Western Test Range, near Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., using a winged Pegasus-XL 
launch vehicle. 
 
The FAST spacecraft will probe the physical processes that produce the aurora borealis and aurora australis. 
It is a unique plasma physics experiment that will take fundamental measurements of the magnetic and 
electrical field by flying through the highest altitude regions to date of the aurora where acceleration of 
charged particles expelled from the Sun begins. This investigation will add significantly to our 
understanding of the near-Earth space environment and its effect.  
 
"We are very pleased with the successful deployment of the FAST spacecraft this morning," said Jim 
Watzin, SMEX project manager at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Initially, we will be 
watching to ensure that the health of the spacecraft is stable and that the proper spacecraft attitude and 
power conditions are established. Then over the course of the next 45 days we will deploy and configure the 
instruments to begin the science investigations. We expect the scientists will start their work in about a 
month," he said.  
 
"FAST is the second of five missions in NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX) Project developed by Goddard. 
The SMEX satellites are small observatories that are being used to support quick response astrophysics and 
space physics investigations, as well as to develop new low cost approaches for improving satellite 
productivity in space research," said Watzin. 
 
FAST's five scientific instruments will gather high time resolution "snapshots" of the electric fields, 
magnetic fields, and energetic electron and ion distributions at high altitudes of 1,200 - 2,600 miles and at 
high latitudes near the Earth's magnetic poles.  
 
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The science data from FAST will be directly down-linked to several ground stations throughout the world. 
These include the transportable ground station in Poker Flat, Alaska, a ground station at NASA's Wallops 
Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., another NASA transportable ground station in McMurdo Station, 
Antarctica and a European ground station in Kiruna, Sweden. 
 
The spacecraft is intended to operate at least for one year. The expected satellite lifetime is limited due to 
the anticipated high radiation environment and orbit decay. 
 
Information on the FAST mission can be obtained via the Internet World Wide Web at URL: 
http://sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/fast/fast_top.html  
 
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