CubeSats - Goliat
CubeSats are nanosatellites of standardised dimensions, composed of one or more units that are 10x10x10cm in size and that have a mass of up to 1.33kg.
Seven teams of university students were selected to fly their CubeSats on the maiden flight of ESA's Vega launch vehicle. Here is an introduction to Goliat, the Romanian team.
The Goliat picosatellite project was built around the first year university team that flew a microgravity experiment during the ESA Parabolic Flight Campaign. The objective to develop a microsatellite mission was already included in the national space program. The Romanian Space Agency and the Romanian Institute of Space Science provided the team with institutional, technological and financial support through a national grant.
Goliat carries three experiments for scientific measurements and Earth observation:
- CICLOP is a 3 megapixel digital camera with a custom-built lens for Earth observation, particularly imaging of Romanian territory.
- SAMIS is an impact sensor which will count micrometeoroid impact events and measure their energy (voltage over time) in order to estimate their number and speed. The data on each impact will be processed at the ground station.
- DOSE-N is a detector designed to measure the total dose of radiation inside the satellite. The data set will consist of a value for the dose and the position (including time) where that value was measured.
Once the early operations phase is completed, the team will start to receive and analyse the data. SAMIS and DOSE-N will increase knowledge about the radiation and micrometeoroid environments in low Earth orbit. CICLOP will test the possibility of using picosatellites to monitor surface features for agricultural, administrative and disaster monitoring purposes, as well as for public outreach. The images will be acquired at specific locations and published on the project website.
Source:
http://www.esa.int/Education/Meet_the_teams_Goliat
Reference:
http://www.esa.int/Education/CubeSats_-_Fly_Your_Satellite/CubeSat_teams
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Technology_CubeSats
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4iNiNFFto
#space #cubesats #ESA #scitech #satellite
I wonder how/when/if these get cleaned up. Or do they become orbiting debris just waiting to collide with something else moving several thousand mph? Remember kids, deploy responsibly.
ReplyDeleteThey are generally low earth orbit and have no maneuvering capability because they have no room for propellant. As such, they deorbit quickly.
ReplyDeleteJohn Bump I figured as much. So how long until they re-enter? Days? months?
ReplyDeletehttp://space.stackexchange.com/questions/40/how-long-does-a-cubesat-last seems to indicate months to maybe a year for cheap launches. From other sources, apparently a lot of them do have stabilization systems to control spinning and regulate position, but it doesn't look like many have maneuver/station-holding capability, particularly not in the nano (1kg or thereabouts) range.
ReplyDeleteThanks John!
ReplyDeleteI was just reminded of a story, probably written by Stanislaw Lem, about a world that had so much satellite debris in orbit that the computers running the defunct satellites got together, formed an organization, and boycotted the planet by threatening to ram and destroy anything launched unless their demands for repairs and more batteries were met. If it was Lem it was probably actually about some deep political critique of totalitarianism, but the prima facie story was pretty good anyway. Turns out there are guidelines that modern nations use for ensuring controlled deorbit of mid- or high-earth-orbit stuff to prevent further accumulation of junk at altitudes that won't quickly deorbit.
ReplyDeleteCool. I once posted a gif of known space junk. Not to scale of course, so it looks scarier than the reality. Nonetheless it only takes one to really ruin your day at orbital speeds.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm wondering how well Bigelow Aerospace thinks their inflatable habitable environments are going to fare. I'm not sure how soundly I'd sleep in one of those.
ReplyDeleteYikes... Good point.
ReplyDeleteOf course, at those speeds, I'm not sure it would make much difference...
ReplyDelete