IT LOOKS LIKE an alien balloon. Except that it flies at 17,500 mph in near-Earth orbit and can carry a science experiment—potentially your science experiment—for two months before it burns up in the atmosphere. And early next year, 20 of these ThumbSats will beam data back to a network of 50 listening stations all over the world. […]
Each mini satellite measures 16 inches and includes a micro camera and GPS. Aerospace engineer Shaun Whitehead is putting a $15,000 price tag on each ThumbSat's launch cost. (Photo : Cristiano Rinaldi)
IT LOOKS LIKE an alien balloon. Except that it flies at 17,500 mph in near-Earth orbit and can carry a science experiment—potentially your science experiment—for two months before it burns up in the atmosphere. And early next year, 20 of these ThumbSats will beam data back to a network of 50 listening stations all over the world.
Aerospace engineer Shaun Whitehead came up with the ThumbSat project because he wanted to help regular people send stuff into space. “We get slowed down by old-school ways of thinking,” he says. “I hope that ThumbSat accelerates progress in space, inspires everyone to look up.” His craft are so small that they fit into the nooks and crannies of commercial launchers, hitching a ride with bigger payloads and keeping costs down.
The people conducting the first experiments are a diverse group. Engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory hope to use a cluster of connected ThumbSats to study gravitational waves. Three teenage sisters from Tennessee who go by the moniker Chicks in Space want to orbit algae and sea monkey eggs. Artist Stefan G. Bucher will deploy magnetized fluids and shape-memory alloys.
Eventually a global network of volunteers, including a Boy Scout group in Wisconsin and a school in the Cook Islands, will monitor all the ThumbSat data. (Without receivers on those remote islands, there’d be a big gap in coverage out in the South Pacific.) Space is the place, and pretty soon anyone will be able to reach it.
What is LCRD? It is Laser Communications Relay technology, which NASA aims to fly on a test mission within four years and will be used in near-earth and deep-space human and robotic missions. Space laser communications technology has the potential to provide 10 to 100 times higher data rates than traditional radio frequency systems for the […]
What is LCRD? It is Laser Communications Relay technology, which NASA aims to fly on a test mission within four years and will be used in near-earth and deep-space human and robotic missions. Space laser communications technology has the potential to provide 10 to 100 times higher data rates than traditional radio frequency systems for the same mass and power. In short, laser communications could boost space data transmission rates from the speeds of dial-up to broadband.
The technology is directly applicable to the next generation of NASA’s space communications network. After the demonstration, the developed space and ground assets will be qualified for use by near-Earth and deep space missions requiring high bandwidth and a small ground station reception area.
When launched, NASA’s technology demonstration payload will be positioned above the equator, a prime location for line-of-sight to other orbiting satellites and ground stations. Positioning LCRD aboard the commercial communication satellite platform is a cost effective approach to place LCRD in orbit. The Loral satellite will provide the right location, space availability, and power systems needed to conduct the space laser communications tests.
If you are interested in this topic, ATI offers Satellite Laser Communications course that will be presented on February 5-7, 2012 in Columbia, MD.
You can submit your registration here.
When launched, NASA’s technology demonstration payload will be positioned above the equator, a prime location for line-of-sight to other orbiting satellites and ground stations. Positioning LCRD aboard the commercial communication satellite platform is a cost effective approach to place LCRD in orbit. The Loral satellite will provide the right location, space availability, and power systems needed to conduct the space laser communications tests.
If you are interested in this topic, ATI offers S