Kentucky Space Blog

And if planes could only be used once?

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:06:12 +0000

Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon on Sept. 29 last year, SpaceX CEO/CTO Elon Musk talked about the current model for spaceflight, pointing out in this clip that as an economic and business proposition, it's awful. What if an airliner could only be used once?

Saying his company had spec'd a multi-stage, fully reusable rocket, he announced at the press luncheon that SpaceX will try to build it. If successful, it would exponentially lower the capital costs per launch.

See his entire presentation here.

Wayne

Finnish student CubeSat video

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:46:40 +0000

AMSAT-UK posted this video of a Finnish CubeSat that shows antenna deployment and visualizes the science payload. "Aalto-1" will incluce VHF-UHF and S-band transmitters, with up to 8 watts of power via its solar panels, according to the piece. As for the science:

The main payload of the satellite is a novel tiny Fabry-Perot imaging spectrometer, developed by VTT, Finland. The primary scientific goal of the mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of MEMS Fabry-Perot spectrometers for space applications. This miniature technology can be used in nanosatellites for large a variety of remote sensing applications in the future.

Wayne

SpaceX docking with ISS "no earlier" than late March

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:21:41 +0000

The first flight attempt by SpaceX to dock with the International Space Station will now occur "no earlier" than late March, according to Space.com. The planned flight, delayed twice as the company works on its craft, will take place under a new initiative to have the private sector deliver supplies to the International Space Station, and will be second such flight under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contract the company has with NASA. SpaceX tested its Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon capsule in December, 2010, completing a couple orbits around the Earth before safely splashing down in the Pacific. That ride to orbit can be watched in this onboard mission video.

Wayne

Video: How the CXBN will Capture X-Ray Photons

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:46:58 +0000

In this video Director of Ground Operations for Kentucky Space, Dr. Ben Malphrus, describes the device on board the Cosmic X-Ray Background Satellite, or CXBN, that will register X-ray photons. The CXBN will refine two existing measurements of relic X-rays from the Big Bang, and is currently slated for an August launch.

Dr. Malphrus is the Director of the Space Science Center at Morehead State University, where the two-unit CubeSat was built.

Wayne

Picture this: Dropzone!, the school science fundraiser

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:16:39 +0000

Check out this image from a Dropzone! flight last Friday.

One of sixteen available slots for purchase on every high altitude balloon flight, Dropzone! offers local supporters a way to connect with the science happening in their schools, and get something truly unique in return - the image of their choice pictured at the edge of space. By participating in the program, science educators can also raise much needed funds for labs supplies and books!

If this sounds interesting to you, email Chris Winfield at Kentucky Space for more information.

Wayne

Interview with "Kicksat" creator on personal spaceflight

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:48:20 +0000

Kicksat - The First Personal Satellite - Interview with inventor Zac Manchester from Buzzumi Video on Vimeo.

What can an extremely small, cracker-sized spacecraft do? The creator of the "Kicksat" Kickstarter project, Zac Manchester, appeared yesterday in a live web cast, where he answered questions related to the personal spacecraft project that has captured the imagination of many people. Check it out.

Wayne

NASA looking afresh at crewed steps beyond LEO

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:33:02 +0000

NASA is looking at Lagrange points as next-step destinations for crewed missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO), according to a report at MSNBC. While beyond-LEO scenario development never really stops, current planning by the Future In-Space Operations group emphasizes flights that could be done relativelly inexpensively and with near term technology.

That makes Lagrange points attractive. The gravitational pull of the Sun-Earth-moon balance out at these points, essentially letting a spacecraft "park" at L1 (between the Earth and the Sun) and L2 at locations three times more distant than the moon. This ease of access and egress make them attractive places to develop fuel depots, and keep tabs on and manage future robotic activity on the lunar surface, for example, as well as offering the agency a chance in the near future to hone its flight skills.

The two nearest Lagrange points - there are five in all - already offer NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) convenient spots to carry out some existing missions.

The last crewed fligth beyond LEO was the Apollo 17 lunar mission, was happened nearly forty years ago.

Wayne

Image credit: ESA

Kentucky-built CubeSat to Study X-Ray Relic from Big Bang

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

While better known as technology demonstrators for up and coming astro-engineers, CubeSats are increasingly capable and sophisticated spacecraft. Built at Morehead State University with help from Kentucky Space, a two-unit CubeSat called the X-Ray Background Nanosatellite (CXBN) was delivered last week. It joins craft like the three-unit ExoPlanetSat, set for launch this year, and PharmaSat in pushing the boundaries of sophistication in the diminutive CubeSat form factor.

As explained by Dr. Benjamin Malphrus in the video (choose 720p while playing for HD), the CXBN will study the poorly understood X-ray background remnant from the Big Bang, constraining two existing measurements of this relic radiation and contributing new knowledge to Big Bang cosmology.

Kentucky Space is building the human capital and physical infrastructure to lead in the development small, high value spacecraft such as the CXBN. Stick around. We'll build more.

Wayne

Space surgery for satellite surgeons

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Johns Hopkins technology may provide robotic surgery for run down or ailing satellites. The analogy is actually fitting:

As a demonstration, two graduate students at Johns Hopkins University‘s Homewood campus in Baltimore recently used a modified da Vinci control console to manipulate an industrial robot at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, about 30 miles away.

The same type of console is used to conduct robotic surgery on cancer and cardiac patients. It includes a 3D eyepiece that allowed the operator in Baltimore to guide the robot at Goddard. It also provided haptic, or “touch,” feedback to the operator.

The goal, the engineers say, is to adapt some robotic operating room strategies to help NASA to perform long-distance “surgery” on ailing satellites.

Wayne

Space, trending?

john@emergix.com (Administrator) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:17:59 +0000

There are all kinds of ways to experience space. Kentucky Space got its start with the CubeSat - going so far as to entice Bob Twiggs, its inventor, to come teach in Kentucky - and has since expanded its efforts in a variety of ways, notably by building commercial plug and play platforms, as well as inventing the CubeLab^TM module, for use on the ISS. We've hosted a highly successful hackerSPACE for makers who want to apply their talents to spacecraft. We've launched projects from Japan and Russia. We send up high altitude balloons with all sorts of innovative payloads.

If we're not flying stuff, we're thinking about flying stuff.

Commercial Space is out with a substantial blog post on how space has found its way into marketing campaigns, and one of my favorites - and one not mentioned Chuck Black - is this Toshiba commercial here. Enjoy.

Oh, and stick around for a couple of announcements on how you too can get a little closer to orbit.

Wayne