TheAdvanced Composite Solar Sail Systemlaunched on April 23 on board Rocket Labs Electron rocket.
Things were going smoothly until NASA began deployment operations.
NASA engineers are analyzing data from the spacecraft to understand what may have caused the sudden glitch.
An artist’s concept of the Solar Sail mission in orbit.NASA
The spacecrafts communications, power, and attitude control are operating normally in the meantime, according to NASA.
The team is conducting analysis and assessing all spacecraft systems before resuming deployment operations.
If unfurled, the solar sail will stretch across 30 feet (9 meters) per side.
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