ISS Releases Baby Sputnik

illumina+us writes "CNN is running an article about the recent space walk taken by the personnel of the International Space Station. On today's walk the two astronauts 'carried out a 1-foot-long, 11-pound satellite called Nanosputnik, designed for experimental maneuvering by ground controllers.'" The article also has some tidbits on the ISS's gyroscope problems and how the thrusters used to compensate have caused problems for spacewalks in the past.

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[Nine Tenths of The W]

There's an interesting article about this here. One of the main reasons for the release of the Nanosptunik has been to assess whether it's a cost effective alternative to traditional satellite launches. Predicted costs are lower - with the upcoming private space industry, the Russians are desperate to hang onto their near-monopoly on commercial launches.
One of the potential problems is the quality of the Russian engineering - there are suspicions that the contracting for the module was awarded on the basis of political patronage rather than merit. Still, with the wage differential and a steady source of income from commercial launches and space tourism the Russians can afford to take R&D risks that NASA has to avoid.