ANDE satellites being deployed from their canisters in low Earth orbit (LEO). There were two Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment (ANDE) satellites, each one a precision engineered small metal sphere, one made of brass and one made of an aluminium alloy. The brass FCAL sphere is the lower object at upper right. The MAA sphere got stuck in its canister (lower left), and was deployed a day later. The experiment was designed to compare atmospheric drag on the satellites and model the density of the atmosphere in LEO. The satellites also demonstrated new radio technology. They were deployed on 21 December 2006 from the Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-116 (10-22 December 2006).