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Your chance to own part of a satellite mission.

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posted on Aug, 6 2012 @ 12:45 PM
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I stumbled across this today

SkyCube


We are developing a nano-satellite, and mobile apps to go with it, as the focus for a global education and public outreach campaign. The satellite, called SkyCube, is a 10x10x10 cm "1U" CubeSat intended for launch as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2013. Orbiting more than 300 miles up, on a path highly inclined to the Earth's equator, SkyCube will pass over most of the world's inhabited regions.


Its a pretty neat idea that gets you into space for $1! Or at least allows you to send a 120 character tweet from space!
Other options allow more messages to be sent and allow you to take your own pictures from anytime during the mission.


SkyCube will take low-resolution pictures of the Earth and broadcast simple messages uploaded by sponsors. After 90 days, it will use an 8-gram CO2 cartridge to inflate a 10-foot (3-meter) diameter balloon coated with highly reflective titanium dioxide powder. SkyCube's balloon will make the satellite as bright as the Hubble Space Telescope or a first-magnitude star. You'll be able to see it with your own eyes, sailing across the sky. But SkyCube's balloon isn't just for visibility. It will - within 3 weeks - bring SkyCube down from orbit due to atmospheric drag, ending the mission cleanly in a fiery "grand finale" that avoids any buildup of space debris.


Pretty cool I think!



posted on Aug, 6 2012 @ 12:57 PM
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Im struggling to see the point of it all tbh lol.



posted on Aug, 6 2012 @ 04:37 PM
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Pretty cool to me, interesting project ... going to follow the project, especially to see that small satelite perform in space.



 
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