Kentucky Space

Presentations from CubeSat Developer's Workshop now online

[Kentucky Space readers, by the end of this week, I'll be blogging exclusively on the Kentucky Space web site. Please note: If you're taking the blog feed, it has changed. Use this feed URL instead if you consume Kentucky Space in Google Reader or a client like FeedDemon or NetNewsWire.]

Presentations from the CubeSat Developer's Workshop at which Kentucky Space was prominently featured have been made available.

They include results from Kentucky Space's most recent suborbital, Morehead State University professor Bob Twiggs' "Tubesat" presentation, a proposal to fly glioblastoma cancer cells using the new CubeLab standard, and a description of the CubeLab standard itself.

Presentation videos appear here.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

New March launch window opens for SOCEM suborbital

A new flight window for SOCEM has been confirmed for Saturday through Sunday, March 27 and 28.

"SOCEM," which stands for Sub-orbital Cubesat Experimental Mission, is a test of the Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket and Cubesat launcher that may open new opportunities in fast access to space. Video of a recent test ejection may be seen here:

Kentucky Space's ejected "ADAMASat" payload will test components that will fly on orbital missions slated for later this year.

ADAMASat can be followed on Twitter @KySpaceADAMASat  

Wayne

SOCEM highlights on NASA TV

NASA TV broadcast this segment on its Wallops "SOCEM" mission, which has been posted to the UK Space Lab channel on YouTube.
Weather scrubbed last Thursday's launch. A new target launch date should be announced soon.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

Cubesat and microscope

Here's an elegantly simple research idea from Google Lunar X PRIZE team Selene that might fly aboard a Cubesat. Study a single cell organism in microgravity with a telescope and stream the video back to Earth.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

NewSpace, Mars' sounds and PocketQubs

Via 62MileClub, DailyKos runs down a list of players in the new space race, complete with quite a few pictures and estimates of the funding and technology involved.

JPL has released a brief podcast of the sounds that can be heard from the Mars' rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

The picture above of a "PocketQub" was snapped on a recent trip to Morehead State University to talk with Profs. Bob Twiggs and Ben Malphrus. The personal satellite can be flown with whatever science or technology that can be put inside on missions measured in weeks or months at very low orbital altitudes, and vaporize on reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. This example is sitting on a magazine-sized brochure.

Please follow Kentucky Space on Twitter @kyspace.

Wayne

Kentucky Space audio from The Space Show posted

Audio of Kris Kimel's appearance on The Space Show Friday is has been posted. In his second appearance on The Space Show, Kris covered the breadth of Kentucky Space activities and answered a number of questions from callers across the country. Listen here.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

Video: NanoRacks, Kentucky Space flying in March to International Space Station

On a visit to Kentucky Space earlier this month, Jeffrey Manber provided an update on the work to make affordable, repeatable micro-gravity research available on the International Space Station. The first of three planned NanoRacks, along with the first two "Cubelabs," will fly on a Shuttle flight, STS-131, to the station in March. More about NanoRacks and this innovative approach to orbital research be found here.

Wayne

Cubelab, Kentucky Space, NanoRacks

Buying commercial space services

At the BBC, "Spaceman" Jonathan Amos provides an easy to understand description of the big changes that may be in store for NASA.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

Resurrected Cubesat solar sailor, Nanosail-D, to fly

The Principal Investigator for the project, Dean Ahorn, has let Kentucky Space know that Nanosail-D has been resurrected and is being readied to fly on the FASTSAT-HSV1 satellite later this year. Similar in concept to the Planetary Society's Lightsail project, the 3U (unit) Cubesat packs an unbelievable amout of fabric into its diminutive body.

Use the radiation pressure of light from the stars or a laser to propel themselves forward, solar sails can in theory reach very high speeds over time.

The two spacecraft are among the very first to test the material and sails that could form the basis for a technology first envisioned by writers in the 1960s, as well as push the technology boundaries of what's possible using the Cubesat platform.

This video demonstrates how Nanosail-D will unfurl its sails.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

Follow Kentucky Space on Twitter

If you don't follow Kentucky Space on Twitter, please consider it. We're at http://twitter.com/KySpace, or @KySpace if you're a regular user.

@KySpaceADAMASat and @KySpace_KySat1 can also be found there. The suborbital ADAMASat mission has a February 24 launch date, and KySat-1 is expected to fly in November with NASA's Glory mission.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space