Category Archives: Education

Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Radio

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Dec.9.2020

December 9, 2020 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Two Brigham Young University student Cubesats set to go to orbit on Virgin Orbit LauncherOne flight this month: How BYU’s work with NASA will allow satellites to take selfies in space – Deseret News

For the last five years, students at the BYU College of Engineering have been dreaming up, designing and building two tiny satellites. And after a two-year delay in the launch of NASA’s ELaNa 20 mission, the cube-like modules are finally ready to head to space.

The “CubeSats” have cameras attached to each of their six sides and are designed to take photos of other satellites, giving NASA a cheap method of visually examining the exteriors of spacecraft.

“The idea is you carry up one of these sort of selfie cameras,” said David Long, an engineering professor at BYU, “and when you needed to get a picture of your spacecraft — it is very inexpensive; it’s disposable — you kind of toss it out the window, conceptually, you know, you just deploy it, and it takes pictures of your main spacecraft. And then it just drifts off into space.”

BYU Passive Inspection CubeSat. Credits: BYU PICS

DreamUp sent 35 student experiments to the ISS via Cargo Dragon

December 8, 2020 TopSpacer

An announcement in my email from the DreamUp education program:

Thirty-Five DreamUp Student Experiments Launch on SpaceX-21

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – December 6, 2020 – DreamUp, the leader in space-based educational offerings, is proud to announce the launch of thirty-five student-designed experiments to the International Space Station on today’s SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-21 rocket launch. These educational payloads, built by students from middle school to university around the world, represent their unprecedented perseverance as they continued to prepare their experiments for flight in unusually challenging circumstances due to COVID-19.

The student payloads launched in SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon alongside thousands of pounds of NASA cargo, supplies, more than 250 science and research investigations, as well as the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock, the first permanent, commercial addition to the International Space Station infrastructure. The Cargo Dragon is scheduled to dock to the Space Station tomorrow, Monday, December 7, 2020.

Specifically, the investigations on board are designed and built by a diverse range of students hailing from several countries and participating in programs led by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE), Orbital Space, The Ramon Foundation, and the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance (TRSA).

Notably, “E. Coli Consuming Carbon Dioxide to Combat Climate Change (E. coli C⁵)” will be the first payload launched to the International Space Station from Kuwait. Designed by a team of students from the American School of Kuwait who won Orbital Space’s “Experiments in Space” competition, this Mixstix experiment will investigate how a genetically modified strain of E. Coli bacteria that uses atmospheric carbon dioxide as a food source will behave in the microgravity environment of the Space Station.

The Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, supported by Flight Night, solicited Mixstix experiment proposals from students throughout Oklahoma in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. After participating in a two-phased selection process, six students from three teams were selected as winners. The three teams come from Jenks Southeast Elementary and Summit Christian Academy.

Twenty-eight Mixstix experiments from NCESSE’s Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) Mission 14 and three Mixstix from the Ramon Foundation’s Spacelab program represent long-enduring partnerships that reach students in a broad range of schools across Brazil, Canada, Israel, and the United States and inspire countless more.

“It is fitting that this notable launch for commercial space will be carrying such a large and diverse array of student investigations, and I am particularly excited to for the launch of the very first Kuwaiti experiment on the International Space Station!” said Allen Herbert, Interim CEO of DreamUp. “Student-designed microgravity research has the power to excite and engage not only young learners, but their parents, schools, and broader communities, and to equip them to pursue the challenges that humanity will face in the future. DreamUp is proud to support students as they pursue cutting-edge research on the most advanced commercial space platforms, and we congratulate them all on their persistence and tenacity in a challenging time.”

These launch opportunities were made possible via our partnership with Nanoracks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA.

For additional media inquiries, please email us at info@dreamup.org, and for continued updates, be sure to follow @DreamUp_Space on Twitter and Instagram.

About DreamUp: Based in Washington, DC, DreamUp is the first company bringing space into the classroom and the classroom into space. Uniquely positioned to inspire kids globally and engage them through scientific discoveries in space, DreamUp aims to foster an educational community where space-based research and projects will be available to all learners of all ages. DreamUp has a proven track record with more than 400 student research payloads from around the world launched on SpaceX and Northrop Grumman rockets to the International Space Station via a partnership with Nanoracks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA. For more information, visit https://www.dreamup.org/.

=== Amazon Ads ===

Amateur Radio Satellite for Beginners

====

Astronomy, Education, Space participation

Videos: Night sky highlights for December 2020

December 1, 2020 TopSpacer

[ Update: What’s Up: December 2020 Skywatching Tips from NASA – JPL

What are some skywatching highlights in December 2020? Catch the year’s best meteor shower, the Geminids, in the middle of the month. Then witness an extremely close pairing of Jupiter and Saturn that won’t be repeated for decades. And mark the shortest day of the year on the northern winter solstice. Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up….

]

** Tonight’s Sky: December – Space Telescope Science Institute

Step outside on a cold December night when the stars shine bright to find the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. They will help you locate a binary star system, a fan-shaped open star cluster, and a variable star. Stay tuned for space-based views of a ragged spiral galaxy, an open star cluster, and an edge-on galaxy.

** What to see in the night sky, December 2020 – BBC Sky at Night Magazine

What can you see in the night sky tonight? Astronomers Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel talk us through the best sights to see in the night sky throughout December 2020, including how to see the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (03:30) and the Geminid meteor shower (08:48).

** What’s in the Night Sky December 2020 #WITNS | Great Conjunction | Solar Eclipse | Geminid Meteors – Alyn Wallace

** The Night Sky & A Telescope – The Night Sky Sights – December 2020 – Richard J. Bartlett

This month, Jupiter and Saturn are at their closest for 400 years, while Mars still shines in the evening hours. The Geminid meteor shower reaches its maximum on the 13th, and we’ll take a closer look at the Pleiades star cluster.

** More night sky advice:

=== Amazon Ad ===

Stellaris: People of the Stars

Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Radio

Low cost GOES weather satellite stations

November 12, 2020 TopSpacer

Home systems for GOES weather satellite image reception are now quite affordable. Nooele currently offers this package for just $179 at Amazon: Nooelec GOES Weather Satellite RTL-SDR Bundle[Amazon commission link]

Includes NESDR SMArTee XTR Software Defined Radio, & Everything Else Needed to Receive LRIT, HRIT & HRPT Satellite Weather Images Directly from Space!”

- This bundle will allow you to receive detailed, high-resolution, near real-time images from orbiting weather satellites. With as little as an hour of setup, you will be receiving LRIT, HRIT and HRPT GOES transmissions, error-free and with ease!
- This GOES Weather Satellite SDR bundle includes a GOES parabolic reflector antenna, NESDR SMArTee XTR SDR receiver, SAWbird+ GOES LNA module, 10m LMR400 cable, and the other cables and adapters required for a full GOES receiver. Just add a host device and software, and you are ready to go
- The 21dBi antenna is meant for high gain L-band applications where the antenna is stationary. The center frequency is 1.75GHz, and bandwidth is 200MHz or greater. This encompasses many popular weather satellite applications and constellations
- Software is required for the decoding of images. Current options are either free Linux-based decoders or a paid version of XRIT Decoder for Windows (a license is NOT included in this bundle!). A virtual machine can be used for Linux instead of a standalone Linux computer or Raspberry Pi, if preferred.

===

Check out out USA-Satcom for news and information on amateur satellite communications.

=== Amazon Ad ===

Amsats and Hamsats:
Amateur Radio and other Small Satellites

Astronomy, Education, Space participation

Videos: Night sky highlights for November 2020

October 31, 2020 TopSpacer

** What’s Up: November 2020 Skywatching Tips from NASA – NASA JPL

What are some skywatching highlights in November 2020? Cool autumn evenings are a great time to look for the Pleiades star cluster. You’ll also have a couple of great opportunities to observe the Moon with Jupiter and Saturn. Plus, check out the phenomenon known as Earthshine. Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up…

** Tonight’s Sky: November – Space Telescope Science Institute

In November, hunt for the fainter constellations of fall, including Pisces, Aries, and Triangulum. They will guide you to find several galaxies and a pair of white stars. Stay tuned for space-based views of spiral galaxy M74 and the Triangulum Galaxy, which are shown in visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light.