Tag Archives: Space

Jul 17 2012

PIE1 – Raspberry Pi Sends Live Images from Near Space

A Raspberry Pi

Dave Akerman M6RPI has used a Raspberry Pi computer board as the flight computer on a High Altitude Balloon (HAB) and sent back live images from near space at an altitude of almost 40 km.

SSDV picture from a previous PIE balloon - Image credit Dave Akerman M6RPI

SSDV picture from a previous PIE balloon – Image credit Dave Akerman M6RPI

The balloon, appropriately called PIE1, was launched from Brightwalton, in Berkshire on July 14, 2012. The images were transmitted on 434.650 MHz (300 bps, 600 Hz shift) in the amateur radio 70cm band using the Slow Scan Digital Video (SSDV) standard.

PIE1 reached an altitude of 39,994 metres and images were received as far away as Northern Ireland (that’s over 500 km, not bad for just 10 mW on 434.650 MHz!).

See the images sent by PIE1 http://sanslogic.co.uk/ssdv/live

The full story and pictures are on Dave Akerman’s website http://www.daveakerman.com/?p=592

Read The Register article http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/17/pi_ascent/

Slow Scan Digital Video (SSDV) http://ukhas.org.uk/guides:ssdv

UK High Altitude Society http://www.ukhas.org.uk/

High Altitude Balloons have featured at a recent AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in Guildford.

You can watch a video online of the presentation that Cambridge University Spaceflight gave called “Teddy Bears in Space” at http://www.batc.tv/channel.php?ch=1
In the Archive List category box select AMSAT then click Select Category then in the stream box select Teddys and click on Select Stream

Or download a copy of the video at http://www.batc.tv/vod/Teddys.flv

This years AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium takes place Sept. 15-16 details at
http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium/twelve

Jul 17 2012

SkyCube uses Kickstarter for Funding

Tim DeBenedictis and Anna Vital with the SkyCube satellite

Tim DeBenedictis and Anna Vital with the SkyCube satellite

PC World magazine reports that a fundraising campaign for the satellite, SkyCube, launched on Kickstarter last weekend (July 14) with the goal of raising US$82,500. Kickstarter is an online service popular with entrepreneurs and startups for raising money.

SkyCube-SatelliteThe article says the SkyCube team is led by Tim DeBenedictis, a self-described “space nut” and the man behind the popular Sky Safari smartphone app that provides a guide to the stars.

It will take pictures of Earth with three VGA cameras and deliver 120-character messages to smartphones running a SkyCube app. The messages will be collected on Earth and transmitted to the satellite about once a day, where they will be stored in memory and broadcast every 10 seconds. In addition to the app, anyone with a fairly modest amateur radio-type receiver might also be able to pick up the broadcasts directly.

The PC World article incorrectly says that Chris Phoenix is the projects radio expert, he isn’t, Chris is doing the firmware not RF.

SkyCube will be the first 1U CubeSat to carry an inflatable balloon. When the 3-meter reflective balloon is deployed 90 days after launch it should be visible to observers on the ground. A few weeks after deploying the balloon SkyCube will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

It is understood they are planning to use 915 MHz and hope to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the first half of 2013. http://www.southernstars.com/skycube/

Watch SkyCube Interview

Read the PC World story ‘Space Nut’ Looks Skyward With Web-funded Satellite
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/259375/space_nut_looks_skyward_with_webfunded_satellite.html 

SkyCube Proposes “Tweets from Space” http://www.uk.amsat.org/8435

Southern Stars SkyCube http://www.southernstars.com/skycube/

Kickstarter SkyCube http://www.skycube.org/

Radio ham Zac Manchester KD2BHC used Kickstarter to raise $74,586 in donations to fund the development and deployment of over a hundred amateur radio KickSat sprite satellites.

The amateur radio satellite project ArduSat managed to raise donations of $106,330 in just 30 days.

Kickstarter is not just about raising large sums of money, for example Sandy Antunes used Kickstarter to raise $2,780 to buy a ham radio transceiver and antennas to create an amateur radio satellite ground station Calliope

Kickstarter to launch in UK http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18780184

Jul 13 2012

LightSail-1 CubeSat Videos

Planetary Society’s LightSail-1 Spacecraft

 

The Planetary Society’s amateur radio spacecraft Lightsail-1 carries a 32m square metre solar sail demonstration.

After launch LightSail-1 will spend a few weeks in orbit during which the team will check out the subsystems. The side panels will then be deployed, exposing a folded sail, and a motor driven sail deployment will extend rigid booms.

With the sail deployed, the primary operation for the spacecraft are performing 90 degree slews to get the sail normal to the sun vector, or edge on with the sun vector.

A combination of ground based sensors and on board sensors will be used to characterize the acceleration due to solar pressure. Imagers on the deployed panels will be used to capture the sail deployment.

It is proposing to have a downlink in the 435 MHz band with a 1.5W output, semi-duplex 9k6 GMSK AX25 with a CW preamble to a single monopole. LightSail-1 is a 3U CubeSat weighing around 4.5 kg. More information will be available at http://polysat.calpoly.edu/LightSail.php

Watch deployment of the solar sail

Watch deployment of the solar panels

Watch antenna deployment in slow motion

The Planetary Society‘s LightSail program will launch three separate spacecraft over the course of several years, beginning with LightSail-1. Lightsail-2 will attempt a longer duration flight to higher Earth orbits, demonstrating that solar sails can increase their orbital energy and taking the next major step toward using solar sails for missions in and beyond Earth orbit.

LightSail-3 will fly to the Sun-Earth Libration Point, L1, where solar sail spacecraft could be permanently placed as solar weather stations, monitoring the geomagnetic storms from the Sun that potentially endanger electrical grids on Earth as well as satellites in Earth orbit.

Planetary Society LightSail-1 http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/lightsail-solar-sailing/

Jul 11 2012

F-1 CubeSat on TV

The Vietnamese TV station VTV1 broadcast a news story about the amateur radio CubeSat F-1, callsign XV1VN, due to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 21.

The broadcast shows students from the FPT University in Hanoi who are involved in the project and has an interview with Thu Trong Vu XV9AA.

F-1 carries a low-resolution camera (640×480), a 3-axis magnetometer and two Yaesu VX-3R transceivers using 145.980 and 437.485 MHz.

It is planned to launch to the ISS on July 21 in the HTV-3 cargo vessel and be deployed in September by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI using the ISS Kibo robot arm.

 

Watch CubeSat F-1 on VTV1

For the latest news on F-1 see the FSpace website http://fspace.edu.vn/

Video depicting F-1 CubeSat XV1VN deployment from the ISS http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8446

Vietnam Student CubeSat F-1 http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=5025

Jul 11 2012

SST-US and Virgin Galactic Small Satellite Launches

Virgin Galactic LauncherOne

Virgin Galactic LauncherOne

On July 11, Surrey Satellite Technology US LLC (SST-US) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Virgin Galactic optimizing Surrey’s innovative satellites for Virgin’s new launch vehicle, radically lowering the cost of building and launching small satellites.

This MOU comes on the heels of Virgin Galactic’s announcement of its new ”LauncherOne” program, an unmanned rocket that will be air-launched by SpaceShipTwo’s carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, and that will be capable of delivering as much as 225 kg to low Earth Orbit. SST-US and Virgin Galactic have agreed to work together to provide SST-US, the world leader in small satellite manufacturing, the information needed to build the most powerful spacecraft that LauncherOne can support, giving satellite customers a powerful and affordable option to put their payloads into space.

SST-US is the US operation of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the pioneer in small and cost effective space missions. The collaboration with Virgin Galactic is expected to involve the development by SST-US of new launcher-optimised satellite platforms, the supply of subsystems to the launch vehicle, and advising on market requirements for launch services.

Dr. John Paffet, CEO of SST-US, commented: “Since we launched our first small satellite in the Eighties, we have been changing the economics of space by leveraging innovation. As our platforms have become an integral part of many space programmes, launching satellites at a cost that is synergistic with the mission programme remains a challenge. We look forward to collaborating with Virgin Galactic on this exciting new venture to develop a solution to this need.”

LauncherOne will be a two stage vehicle capable of carrying up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms) to orbit for prices below $10 million. The rocket will be launched from Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo, the uniquely capable aircraft also designed to carry SpaceShipTwo aloft to begin her suborbital missions. With more than 85 flights completed to date, WhiteKnightTwo has substantially completed her test flight program.

“Virgin Galactic’s goal is to revolutionize the way we get to space,” Virgin Galactic’s Founder Sir Richard Branson said. “I’m immensely proud of what we have already achieved as we draw near to regular suborbital flights on SpaceShipTwo. Now, LauncherOne is bringing the price of satellite launch into the realm of affordability for schools, non-profits, and start-ups, in addition to companies and space agencies. This provides a completely new resource to the global research community, letting us learn about our home planet more quickly and more affordably.”

Watch LauncherOne – Furthering the Space Frontier

Watch Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and LauncherOne take flight

Virgin Galactic LauncherOne http://www.virgingalactic.com/launcherone

SST-US http://www.sst-us.com/

SSTL Press Release http://www.sstl.co.uk/news-and-events?story=2044

BBC News Report http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18801180

Jul 10 2012

CubeSats, Isle of Man and STEM in SatMagazine

Topics covered in the July/August issue of the free publication SatMagazine include CubeSats, the space industry in the Isle of Man and Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Erik Mumm’s Insight article Advances In CubeSats Enable New Apps starts on page 56.

The Isle Of Man—Onward, Onward, Onward on page 68 is the third in the series about the space industry in the Isle of Man.

A Video Pathway To Learning starts on page 72 and describes STEM Flix™ which is a new, interactive video series.

Download the July/August 2012 SatMagazine at http://www.satmagazine.com/2012/SM_JulAug2012.pdf

SatMagazine http://www.satmagazine.com/