WSF 4

WSF (Wake Shield Facility) was an american retrievable spacecraft that was released from the Shuttle. The wake region behind the 4 m disk-shaped, 1935 kg spacecraft would have been even more vacuous than the ambient region and could have enabled growth of slimmer thin-film semiconductors through molecular beam epitaxy technique. The addition of solar panels, additional central processing power, and robotic substrate sample manipulation for extended orbital operations.

The WSF-4 Free Flyer was planned for 1998. After the flights initial three WSF, the improved long-duration version was cancelled.

Nation:	USA
Type / Application:	Material research, retrievable
Operator:	NASA
Contractors:
Equipment:
Configuration:
Propulsion:
Power:	Solar cells, batteries
Lifetime:
Mass:	1700 kg
Orbit:

Satellite	COSPAR	Date	LS		Launch Vehicle	Remarks
WSF 4	-	cancelled	CCK LC-39		Shuttle	with ?

Launch Sites:

CCK = NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

References:

NASA: Orbital Vaccuum Facility

Further WSF missions:

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