Science Calling on all orbinauts

[RS-232]

After looking on http://www.n2yo.com/?s=20638 to track the failing Rosat satellite I came across this article on the same page http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/251588730/kicksat-your-personal-spacecraft-in-space
In a nutshell this guy named Zac Manchester, a Cornell graduate student, is taking donations for 30,000 dollars (he already,as of this post,has $15,456 raised) for people to buy what he calls a sprite. A sprite is basically a radio transceiver that will,along with 99 other sprites,be launched into LEO at which point it will start transmitting little bits of data that can be tracked. here is a picture:

Each Sprite (spacecraft) costs $100
Video and more information is here:
http://kck.st/qia31Q
So my question is what if the orbiter community pitched in and bought one(or more) sprite(s). We would actually have something "REAL" in space. How cool would it be if a simulator like orbiter actually had something in space that was real? Surely with the whole community's help we can raise $100 dollars. BTW the deadline is Dec 3. Just think would actually have a whole new reality



EDIT: what if the data was put on orbiter forums/hanger as a link that all orbinauts could track together in realtime untill the time it re-enters the atmosphere?
EDIT2: I emailed him 2 different ways and asked him to make an appearance on these forums. I hope he responds :thumbup:

 

[DanM]

If I can convince my parents to do this, I'm in.

 

[statickid]

oh it could transmit "O-F" as it's message

 

[RS-232]

looking at sprite website I have found this info on how to track the signal:

All information and software needed to receive signals from the Sprites will be made freely available. Anyone with the necessary hardware who wants to is encouraged to listen in!

The signals will be in the 70 cm band (around 437 MHz) at about 10 dBm EIRP. All Sprites will be on the same frequency and will use orthogonal PRN spreading codes for both unique identification and signal processing gain.

To receive the signals, you'll need a yagi antenna, a rotator, an LNA, and a software defined radio (SDR) interface for your computer. We've been using the USRP from Ettus Research, but it's pretty expensive, so we're trying to make everything work with the (much cheaper) FUNCube dongle (http://www.funcubedongle.com/) as well.

Frequency coordination with the IARU can't be done until we have KickSat slotted for a specific launch, so we won't know the exact frequency until then.

I have a registered copy of Nova for windows http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=3717 and doing a little research on what I need to do in order to get the signal into the computer and plot it on the map in nova in real time. And then it could be put on a website or a site like Live Stream and viewed in HD then that could also be attached to a sticky link on these forums with the embedded code of live stream on orbiter forums like we do when we post youtube vids

EDIT: And a little something for you addon programmers out there you can fly your own code! Although he doesn't specify the language. Maybe u-boot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_U-Boot which is basically Linux. I am assuming of course. But he doesn't specify by saying "code" if he is referring to software or more like firmware code

Yes. I do need to understand what your code does and make sure that it complies with regulations and fits within technical constraints. I will work with developers to resolve issues before launch, however, I reserve the right not to fly code for any reason.

Just to give you an idea of what you'll be working with, the microcontroller on the Sprite is an MSP430 from Texas Instruments. The exact part that will be used in the flight units has not been decided yet, but it will have at bare minimum 2 kB of RAM and 8 kB of flash memory.

 

[Shinrar]

Each Sprite (spacecraft) costs $100

It's $300 each. $1000 to write your own code.

Still an awesome idea, just thought I'd clear the cost bit up :thumbup:

 

[SiberianTiger]

Sorry for mentioning that, but are we suddenly short of space junk? Do you or the project initiator know how difficult would be for ISS support teams to track such a small piece of plastic to plan a DAM in advance?

 

[Keatah]

yawn.. and the purpose of this is?
You see. All this has been done before.. Many times!

 

[garyw]

Sorry for mentioning that, but are we suddenly short of space junk? Do you or the project initiator know how difficult would be for ISS support teams to track such a small piece of plastic to plan a DAM in advance?

I was thinking that as well. It's not exactly a ground breaking experiment and just how are these things going to be launched into LEO? I see no details on a launch timeline or launch vehicle.

 

[tl8]

I thought I read this before

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/satellites/exploring-space-with-chipsized-satellites

 

[RS-232]

Sorry for mentioning that, but are we suddenly short of space junk? Do you or the project initiator know how difficult would be for ISS support teams to track such a small piece of plastic to plan a DAM in advance?

Umm we are talking about LEO. So low that it re-enters after a couple of days or weeks. I don't see "space junk" being a problem

Debris is a huge concern to everyone in the space community. We certainly want to be responsible space citizens in making sure that we don’t create more of it and will comply with the international rules and guidelines for debris mitigation.

While exact prediction of orbit lifetimes is difficult, the absolute worst-case lifetime for our mission would occur in the event of a deployment failure, in which KickSat is stuck in its launch configuration with all the ChipSats still inside. In that case, KickSat would lose orbital velocity due to atmospheric drag and burn up within a few months of being launched into low Earth orbit.

If the Sprites are successfully deployed, their individual orbital lifetimes will be significantly shorter than KickSat's. This is because their ballistic coefficients are much lower, so atmospheric drag has a greater affect on their orbits.

From Nasa:

NASA and the Launch Services Program are partnering with several universities to launch small research satellites. These small satellites are called CubeSats because of their shape.

Small satellite missions provide NASA with valuable opportunities to test emerging technologies and economical commercial off-the-shelf components that may be useful in future space missions.

NASA nanosatellites are designed for a wide spectrum of space missions, including biology experiments, testing advanced propulsion and communications technologies.

CubeSats are in a class of small research spacecraft called picosatellites. They have a size of approximately 4 inches, a volume of about 1 quart and weigh no more than 2.2 pounds.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is adapting the Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or PPOD, to put these CubeSats into orbit. This deployment system, designed and manufactured by the California Polytechnic State University in partnership with Stanford University, has flown previously on Department of Defense and commercial launch vehicles.

Project ELaNa is managed by NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy. For more information about the program, contact us at [email protected]

 

[zacinaction]

Hi Everyone,

RS-232 got in touch with me and told me I should stop by your forum. I'm trying to start the KickSat project to provide a way for the average person to experience putting something in space. I'm very much inspired by the DIY/maker/hacker communities and things like the Arduino, and eventually want to have something that people can experiment with in their home or classroom and actually put in space.

Please check out our page on Kickstarter (kicksat.org). A lot of the questions people have brought up here are answered there (some in the FAQ at the bottom). If anyone has further questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Thanks!

- Zac

 

[RS-232]

So anybody intrested? This is the Arduino he is talking about http://www.arduino.cc/

 

[MaverickSawyer]

to the forum, zacinaction. Looks like fun, but my finances are a little tight right now... Maybe another launch...

 

[T.Neo]

These little things look like prefabricated space debris.

Umm we are talking about LEO. So low that it re-enters after a couple of days or weeks. I don't see "space junk" being a problem

The ISS doesn't re-enter "after a couple of days or weeks".

What launch vehicle is it planned to launch these on? Piggybacking with what other payload(s)? To what orbit?

 

[RisingFury]

Will these things actually do anything beyond going beep beep beep? Any sensors on them? Any other purpose beyond just a hobby project?

In any case, a very impressive hobby project!

 

[PennyBlack]

The ISS doesn't re-enter "after a couple of days or weeks".

I think the ISS uses Zero-Propellant Maneuver (ZPM) to maintain it's orbit.

[EDIT]
Sorry, the point I'm making is that these sprites won't be carrying little giroscopic devices so atmospheric drag will bring them down. With there size, they will burn up without risk and won't make as much damage as a 785 kg ROSAT mirror.

 

[River Crab]

These little things look like prefabricated space debris.

The ISS doesn't re-enter "after a couple of days or weeks".

What launch vehicle is it planned to launch these on? Piggybacking with what other payload(s)? To what orbit?

You seem to be misinterpreting. LEO does not mean "380 km circular orbit." Read the FAQ at the very end of the page linked in the OP, that page answers all your questions.

Also, many seem to be misunderstanding the purpose of the whole endeavour. It's not just a one-time fundraiser to orbit short-lived, useless personal Sputnik. It's meant to demonstrate that satellites can be made cheap and accessible, hopefully becoming more capable and affordable through iterations of the KickSat+Sprite design. More support means better development.

Instead of reducing cost/mass with launcher technology (which is costly and will take a long time), reduce the mass with satellite technology.

 

[PennyBlack]

Question...

What are the risks involved in participation here.

If an orbinaut wants to donate, what are the responsibilities and liabilities where this is concerned.

Hyperphetically speaking, say I wanted in... I made a payment and just wanted to sit back and watch what went on, only accepting feedback/ information from the person leading that perticular sprite. How involved must the donator be.

 

[RS-232]

These little things look like prefabricated space debris.



The ISS doesn't re-enter "after a couple of days or weeks".

What launch vehicle is it planned to launch these on? Piggybacking with what other payload(s)? To what orbit?

Neo have you done your homework? Dude! just read his website. He dont have a launch date yet. First he has to reach his goal of a total of $30,000 by dec 3. Then when he reaches the goal he submits his info to NASA. They (NASA) in turn give him a launch date and the frequencies to tune into to track the satellites.
/RANT Listen you guys, all I am trying to do here is find out how many in this community might be interested in deploying a real (although short term) satellite into low earth orbit in the name of our favorite space simulator orbiter! And to pay tribute to Dr. Martin Schweiger. Thats all! Either you are in or you are out! Now once we have at least $300 judging by how many people say they are in or out and how much we can start organizing. I don't necessarily want to be the man holding the cash. What I want is this to be a community project all of us can be proud of. And upon the first signal received we can all take pride in. What I want to do is see how many people may be interested in this undertaking. If we have enough people and support to raise the $300 my thinking was to goto TEX or Orb,Dbeachy and let them set up something and be the cash holders. I don't even know if this is something O-F admins support or wants to be involved in. I am just a guy with a dream. I would love to see a real orbiter "Probe" (as opposed to a hypothetical one) in orbit that can be tracked and recorded. If you guys have any questions for Zach,cool,email him. But I will say this. Me personally I have the $300 so one way or the other I will do this. All I wanted was my orbiter community to share it with. What happened to your guys pioneering spirit? This is the kind of S**T we as orbinauts dream of. So what if it only goes BEEP BEEP BEEP,or in this case a custom message (My thinking is the message would be "HOPE". Hope for all mankind! Not just certain people in certain countries, but for all mankind). Well now that the admins know,and the cat is out of the bag,I would like some real organization here. IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS. Can we put all the BS aside and make this happen as a community? Deadline is Dec 3rd. We dont have alot of time \RANT

 

[garyw]

The question I have - Do people get the money back if NASA rejects the proposal or if the target is not reached?