Scream in Space via an orbiting smartphone

India today successfully launched seven satellites on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island. One of the payloads is the STRaND-1 Cubesat built by Surrey Satellite and operated by a “Google Nexus One smartphone with an Android operating system”: World’s first “phonesat”, STRaND-1, successfully launched into orbit – Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL).

The phone provides

cameras, radio links, accelerometers and high performance computer processors – almost everything except solar panels and propulsion.  During the first phase of the mission, STRaND-1 will use a number a number of experimental Apps to collect data while a new high-speed linux-based cubesat computer developed by SSC takes care of the satellite.  During phase two, the STRaND team hope to switch the satellite’s in-orbit operations to the smartphone, thereby testing the capabilities of a number of standard smartphone components for a space environment.

SSTL carried out a public contest for apps to be run on the phone and the winners included apps for magnetic field measurements, satellite telemetry display, and earth imaging,

 

And the fourth app is Scream in Space!

Testing the theory ‘in space no-one can hear you scream, made popular in the 1979 film ‘Alien’, the app will allow the public to upload videos of themselves screaming in a creative way to an allocated website.  The most popular videos will be played on the phone while in orbit and the scream recorded using the smartphone’s microphone.

Here is a gallery of the video screams submitted: Screams | Scream in Space!

Lunar COTS on the Space Show + Tea Party in Space + Space law roundup

Doug Plata discussed his Lunar COTS proposal on the Space Show yesterday: Dr. Doug Plata, Sunday, 2-24-13 – Thespaceshow’s Blog

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A commentator has difficulty making fun of, or heads or tails of, the Tea Party In Space  organization: ‘Tea Party in Space’ is boldly going out there – Baltimore Post-Examiner.

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Res Communis post the latest collection of space and aviation law, regulation and policy links: Library: A Round-up of Reading.

The Space Show this week

The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome back DUANE HYLAND of AIAA & JOHN ROSE of Boeing to discuss the AIAA 2013 California Space Day program coming up in March.

2. Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): We welcome DR. GEORGE ROBINSON, noted space attorney, back to the program for a comprehensive discussion of the justification for human space development, the role of space in the survival of humankind, and space law secularism.

3. Friday, March 1, 2013, 9:30-11 AM PST (11:30- 1 PM CST, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EST): We welcome back space attorney MARK SUNDAHL to discuss the recent FAA conference on Commercial Space Transportation in addition to the pressing issues and recent developments in the field of space law.

4. Sunday, March 3, 2013, 12-1:30 PM PST (3-4:30 PM EST, 2-3:30 PM CST). We welcome back WAYNE WHITE, Atty. Wayne as a new idea regarding IP as value enhancer instead of property rights for the Moon and elsewhere in space. We will be discussing other property rights, treaty, and space issues as well.

See also:
/– The Space Show on Vimeo – webinar videos
/– The Space Show’s Blog – summaries of interviews.
/– The Space Show Classroom Blog – tutorial programs

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

Students of Space Hub Southeast fly PongSats

JP Aerospace for many years has flown for free lots of PongSats with miniature payloads from students from all over the world. Now some high school students in Atlanta are expanding on JPA’s work:

Space Hub Southeast is run by four high school students, Beau, Meryl, John and Nathaniel.  We work to make the program possible, along with developing a newly applied “PongSat” outreach program. The club, built on a service-learning platform, is designed to both excite and educate kids about the upper atmosphere. Each year, we help kids build high altitude weather balloons, so they begin to learn about conducting experiments and the properties of space. For each of us, this is what we truly love doing, and we take great pride in our work.