An Indian teenager has built what is thought could be the world's lightest satellite, which will be put into orbit at a Nasa[sic] facility in the US in June.
Rifath Shaarook's 64-gram (0.14 lb) device was selected as the winner in a competition co-sponsored by Nasa[sic]. The 18-year-old says its main purpose was to demonstrate the performance of 3-D printed carbon fibre.
Rifath told local media his invention will go on a four-hour mission for a sub-orbital flight. During that time, the lightweight satellite will operate for around 12 minutes in a micro-gravity environment of space.
"We designed it completely from scratch," he said. "It will have a new kind of on-board computer and eight indigenous built-in sensors to measure acceleration, rotation and the magnetosphere of the earth."
We need more competitions like this that encourage young people in science, and we need the media to make a bigger deal about it.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Wednesday May 17 2017, @12:26AM (5 children)
"Satellite" might be a big term for something on a sub-orbital flight and not showing any sign of shielding against either radiation or the elements.
But it's a pretty cool build.
Now excuse me, i have to go to yet another US school meeting where they will beg parents for donations, after budgets get cut yet again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @12:38AM (3 children)
Americans don't build satellites because any American teenager who gets uppity is told to sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up, and accept the fact that tech is for brown people.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @02:24AM (2 children)
Meh. You're just pissed off because your baking soda volcano didn't win a prize.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @02:30AM (1 child)
My baking soda volcano was edible and it still didn't win a prize because I didn't add enough refined sugar.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @05:45AM
it still didn't win a prize because I didn't add enough refined sugar.
Next time replace sugar with cocaine.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday May 17 2017, @01:43PM
Maybe another country will provide more schooling per tax dollar?
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @12:55AM (1 child)
Built to look like a bomb.. The experiment is to get it past security
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @01:28AM
"Yes I invented a method of quantum clock offloading which makes ntp synchronization obsolete because the clock is never wrong."
"But you're white."
"I don't see how that's relevant."
"But ... you're ... white."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @01:36AM (1 child)
We need more competitions like this that encourage young people in science, and we need the media to make a bigger deal about it.
Can't. The millennials rooned it! They rooned it! They rooned everything! I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @01:42AM
Today's teenagers are not millennials.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @02:12AM (1 child)
Boy I sure do love these dumb "play on words" articles. "LIGHTEST" indeed.
He built a "small little POS" that will be put into space for a few hours thereby making it "technically" a satellite.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday May 17 2017, @02:58AM
It's a lot like that kid who "built" a clock (that looked like a bomb) or "built" the computer (like every other kid and his mom did).
There are a few suppositions I'd like to make, though -- the first is that this kid had the luxury of at least one toilet in his house (and is fattened appropriately), the second is that he is using off-the-shelf sensor boards and that the only "indigenous" component is a couple layers of breadboard bridging the components based on the image, the third is that he has mistook the term "carbon fiber" for "PVC filament," and the fourth is that any kind of programming on the board was performed by somebody else (probably dad).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @02:20AM (2 children)
I'm a satellite!
*jumps in the air*
Sub-orbital flight!
*jumps in the air*
Whole deciseconds of microgravity!
*jumps in the air*
Powered by renewable energy!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @02:35AM
You really had me going
Wishing on a star
The black holes that surround you
Are heavier by far
(Score: 3, Touché) by DECbot on Wednesday May 17 2017, @03:33AM
By no means am I a member of any standards body, but I'd like to argue that no object is a satellite unless it is able to reach terminal velocity during reentry. Objects that generate lift or thrust during reentry can also be satellites if they would reach terminal velocity when falling from the same height in a vacuum or if their thrust was not present.
So, by my definition, your example of a person leaping off of the ground could not be called a satellite unless he jumped from a cliff large enough that he reaches terminal velocity prior to demonstrating Newton's 3rd law of motion.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @08:28AM
Buggers!
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday May 17 2017, @01:48PM
So if a 64 gram satellite is possible. Then how closer are we to amateur launch of such satellites?
It should need something like 1.3 kg of fuel.
I'm thinking some dual-microcontroller, antennas, solar panels. Maybe more than 65 gram, but in the same ballpark. This would enable some electronic mailbox in space. Completely without any ISP. Alternatives could be laser or terahertz link. Radiation will be a problem, thus the dual thing.