Kentucky Space

More than hardware: Discovery flying "new business model" to space station

Aviation Week has published a terrific article on the Shuttle Discovery flight, STS-131, that will take the innovative microgravity research NanoRacks platform and two "Cubelabs" to the International Space Station next month.

The flight is more than a simple delivery of hardware built right here in Kentucky, exciting as that is, but "could be a harbinger of how the U.S. hopes to do business in space in the years to come."

In addition to space station work, NanoRacks also also discussion with a other space companies about the use of the standard interface across several different space vehicles, orbital and suborbital, "so the customer can concentrate on developing the experiment or other hardware to be flown."

That's key. A focus on something other than the sheer technical challenge of getting to and staying in space represents an exciting new development in the commercialization of space. Working with NanoRacks, Kentucky Space is not only carving out a place for Kentucky-built and integrated suborbital and orbital payloads, but participating directly in the growth of space as a business frontier.

The managing partner for NanoRacks, Jeffrey Manber, also spoke on camera recently while in Lexington about the upcoming flight. Please check it out.

Wayne

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

The Business case for Cubelabs

Taking a look at the business prospects for sub-orbital research payloads, the Space Business Blog noticed the work being done by NanoRacks and Kentucky Space to make microgravity research on the International Space Station an affordable and repeatable proposition. It likes, in particular, the modular nature of the solution and points out one very important benefit of using Cubelabs:

NanoRacks has developed a standard rack that plugs into a [mid deck locker] on station. NanoRacks worked with Bob Twiggs (co-creater of the CubeSat) from Kentucky Aerospace to build a standard experiment module called the CubeLab. Still 10cm-cubed, and plugs into their rack via a standard USB port. Very plug-and play! I like this. NanoRacks and Kentucky Space intend to offer this CubeLab technology as open-source for the benefit of the industry. One important nugget: the CubeSat has already passed significant ITAR hurdles, and since the CubeLab is based on similar technology to the CubeSat, a business using this open-source technology should have a significantly easier time attracting and working with international customers. NanoRacks goal is to offer Micro-gravity research opportunitis on the ISS, but I think the technology ports very well into the suborbital arena as well.

Space blogs typically focus on hardware and technology, but rarely on the business prospects for that hardware and technology in the developing frontier of commercial space. Read the entire piece from Space Business Blog.

More images from Kentucky Space may be found on Flickr. Jeffrey Manber provided a recent video update on NanoRacks here.

Wayne

Euroluna: Cubesat for Moon effort?

In September, Euroluna posted this update of its efforts in the Google Lunar X-PRIZE, describing the use of a Cubesat to launch and test systems that would be used on ROMIT, its lunar craft. In its latest video, however, the idea seems to has evolved and the team speculates about a four unit, or 4U Cubesat, that would incorporate command and control, ion propulsion, descent and roving functions as an alternative to the 30 - 50 kg craft it had originally conceived. President of Euroluna, Palle Haastrup, mocks up the idea after the 6:00 minute mark.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

Tracking SwissCube live

Southgate Amateur Radio Club is reporting that SwissCube, one of four cubesats scheduled for a Sept. 23 launch from India, has debuted a website to track the satellite after launch. Along with Google Earth and the tracker provided by the space services company Solenix, you can also watch the progress of SwissCube in 3D.

For events prior to launch, check out the blog hosted by ISIS Launch Services.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Software, Space, SwissCube

Kentucky Space presents at CubeSat, SmallSat conferences

As tweeted yesterday, Kentucky Space has been at the CubeSat Developer's Summer Workshop in Logan, Utah, where Anthony Karam (left) and Samir Rawashdeh (right) presented on SOCEM, the sub orbital cubesat experimental mission - see this fit check of the hardware, which will soon fly from Wallops, and an orbital environment simulator, respectively. The simulator was developed by Samir at the University of Kentucky. 

Prof. Bob Twiggs, who is working with Kentucky Space and recently lectured at Morehead State University, also offered a presentation entitled, "A Big Change in Small Things in Space."

Finally, KySpace will debut today at the SmallSat conference. Daniel Erb will provide an overview of the entire program.

The presentations should be available later online.

Wayne

Ten science apps for the iPhone

SEED Magazine lists the top ten science applications for the iPhone, including a planetarium, a science calculator that (some of us remember) looks like the classic HP calculators, a voice-to-text recorder for capturing those elusive insights and NASA's image of the day.

Wayne