The Firefly satellite was aboard the successful Defense Department ORS-3 mission that launched on Nov. 19, 2013, at 8:15 p.m. EST from NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. The Firefly deployer was activated at the correct time, and automatic beacons from other nano-satellites in the same deployment wafer have been detected. Firefly does not have an automatic beacon mode, however, so the team will attempt to make contact as it passes over Wallops on Nov. 21, 2013, following the release of updated orbital information from the DOD.
An artist's rendition of the football-sized Firefly satellite in low-Earth orbit. Firefly's mission is to study the relationship between lightning and huge bursts of gamma rays called terrestrial gamma ray flashes.
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
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