Amateur/Student Satellite

Student CubeSat projects roundup – Nov.20.2018

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. about student and amateur CubeSat / smallsat projects and programs:

** Yahsat, Khalifa University deliver MYSAT-1 CubeSat to ISS – Telecompaper

UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat, Khalifa University of Science and Technology and Northrop Grumman have announced the successful launch of the MYSAT-1 CubeSat to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft. CubeSat will be used for educational and research purposes once it is deployed to its final orbit in the beginning of 2019.

The nanosatellite carries two payloads, including a camera to take images of the UAE from space, demonstrating the process of remote sensing, as well as an innovative lithium-ion battery developed at Khalifa University to be tested in the extreme temperatures and radiation in space. MYSAT-1 is the first Cubesat (or nanosatellite) built at the Yahsat Space Lab at Khalifa University. 

See also MYSAT-1 CubeSat successfully launched – gulftoday.ae.

** Small satellites tackle big scientific questions – CU Boulder Today/University of Colorado Boulder

CU Boulder will soon have new eyes on the sun. Two miniature satellites designed by researchers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics(LASP) are scheduled to launch later this month on Spaceflight’s SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 

The new missions—called the Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer-2 (MinXSS-2) and the Compact Spectral Irradiance Monitor (CSIM)—will collect data on the physics of the sun and its impact on life on Earth. 

These “CubeSats,” which are smaller than a microwave oven, are set to blast into a near-Earth orbit alongside more than 60 other spacecraft. According to Spaceflight, the SSO-A: SmallSat Express is the largest dedicated rideshare mission from a U.S.-based launch vehicle to date.

** KNACKSAT to launch November 19 | Southgate Amateur Radio News

Tanan Rangseeprom HS1JAN reports KNACKSAT, the first CubeSat made in Thailand, will be launched into orbit at 18:32 GMT on Monday, November 19, 2018 by SpaceX as part of the SSO-A mission

KNACKSAT is a small satellite carrying the great pride of Thailand.

** SpaceX launch from KSC to achieve ‘dream’ of ham radio enthusiasts – Florida Today

Ham radio communication through the space station and other satellites has always been limited to low orbits offering short windows for communication within a spacecraft’s coverage area as it passes by.

That is set to change with SpaceX’s planned Thursday afternoon launch from Kennedy Space Center of a Qatari communications satellite, Es’hail-2, to an orbit high over the equator.

“We’ve never gotten a transponder up in geostationary orbit,” said Joe Spier, president of the nonprofit Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, or AMSAT, in North America. “It’s this repeater station in the sky that stays overhead all the time, and that has long been a dream of radio amateurs.”

** South Korea Has Five Satellites On Upcoming SpaceX Falcon-9 Launch – SpaceWatch.Global

South Korean government agencies and universities have five payloads on board the upcoming SpaceX Falcon-9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States. The launch is currently scheduled for 19 November 2018, and will loft approximately 60 satellites from numerous countries and companies.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-322 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

  • Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express Launch Delayed
  • Fox-1Cliff…The Essentials
  • After the Fox-1Cliff Launch – Your Help is Needed!
  • Score a FREE book with the Fox-1Cliff Membership Drive!
  • SatPC32 Data for Fox-1Cliff and Co-Passenger Launch
  • Spaceflight’s SSO-A…An Amateur Radio Satellite Bonanza
  • JY1SAT launch information & Dashboard Software
  • Congratulations to AMSAT-DL for Successful Es’Hail-2 Launch
  • Es’hail-2 / P4-A Positioning and IOT Phase Started
  • Open Source Cubesat Workshop 2018 Videos Posted
  • Updates to AMSAT 2-Line Keplerian Elements Distribution
  • IARU Coordinates DIWATA 2B Frequencies
  • Japanese Ten-Koh Satellite Launched
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • ARISS News
  • Satellite Shorts from All Over

General CubeSat info:

General

Carnival of Space #587 – NextBigFuture.com

NextBigFuture.com hosts the latest Carnival of Space.

“Ancient Star Found that’s Only Slightly Younger than the Universe Itself” – Universe Today
Space Policy

Space policy roundup – Nov.19.2018

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

Webcasts:

** Space Policy Edition: After the Midterms—Looking Ahead with Marcia Smith – The Planetary Society

http://dcs.megaphone.fm/PPY3112576613.mp3?key=bd5b3b9afd456246ad33a065cfeec235&listener=a4d8e73f-1b9d-488b-952a-9cffadbd3176

** Why The US Took So Long To Replace Space Shuttle’s Crew Capability – Scott Manley

Activism, Space Policy, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week – Nov.19.2018

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Nov. 19, 2018; 2-3:30 pm PST (4-5:30 pm CST, 5-6:30 pm EST): No show today for medical recovery.

2. Tuesday, Nov. 20 2018: 7-8:30 pm PST; 9-10:30 pm CST; 10-11:30 pm EST: No show today for medical recovery.

3. Wednesday, Nov. 21 2018: Hotel Mars. See Upcoming Show Menu and the website newsletter for details. Hotel Mars is pre-recorded by John Batchelor. It is archived on The Space Show site after John posts it on his website.

4. Friday, Nov.23, 2018; 9:30 am -11 am PST, (12:30 -2 pm EST; 11:30 am -1 pm CDT. No show today as part of U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday.

5. The Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018 program from 12-1:30 pm PST, (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CDT): Sarah Cruddas returns for the first half hour to discuss Space for Humanity followed by a special Open Lines program.

A couple of recent programs:

** Mon, 11/12/2018 – Space historian Dr. Roger Launius talked about his new Smithsonian History book, Space Exploration From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future.

** Sun, 11/11/2018 – Dennis Bushnell, , Chief Scientist for NASA Langley Research Center, talked about “potential commercial deep space development and business opportunities”.

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.

The Space Show - David Livingston
David Livingston

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Einstein’s Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes

 

Astronomy

ESO: Swirling triple star system may generate a gamma-ray burst

A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory):

Cosmic Serpent
ESO’s VLT captures details of an elaborate serpentine system
sculpted by colliding stellar winds

The VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured this stunning image of a newly discovered massive triple star system. Nicknamed Apep after an ancient Egyptian deity, this may be the first ever gamma-ray burst progenitor found.

The VISIR instrument on ESO’s VLT captured this stunning image of a newly-discovered massive binary star system. Nicknamed Apep after an ancient Egyptian deity, it could be the first gamma-ray burst progenitor to be found in our galaxy. Apep’s stellar winds have created the dust cloud surrounding the system, which consists of a binary star with a fainter companion. With 2 Wolf-Rayet stars orbiting each other in the binary, the serpentine swirls surrounding Apep are formed by the collision of two sets of powerful stellar winds, which create the spectacular dust plumes seen in the image. The reddish pinwheel in this image is data from the VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), and shows the spectacular plumes of dust surrounding Apep. The blue sources at the centre of the image are a triple star system — which consists of a binary star system and a companion single star bound together by gravity. Though only two star-like objects are visible in the image, the lower source is in fact an unresolved binary Wolf-Rayet star. The triple star system was captured by the NACO adaptive optics instrument on the VLT. [Higher-res image files]
This serpentine swirl, captured by the VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), has an explosive future ahead of it; it is a Wolf-Rayet star system, and a likely source of one of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe — a long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB).

“This is the first such system to be discovered in our own galaxy,” explains Joseph Callingham of the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), lead author of the study reporting this system. “We never expected to find such a system in our own backyard” [1].

The system, which comprises a nest of massive stars surrounded by a “pinwheel” of dust, is  officially known only by unwieldy catalogue references like 2XMM J160050.7-514245. However, the astronomers chose to give this fascinating object a catchier moniker — “Apep”.

Apep got its nickname for its sinuous shape, reminiscent of a snake coiled around the central stars. Its namesake was an ancient Egyptian deity, a gargantuan serpent embodying chaos — fitting for such a violent system. It was believed that Ra, the Sun god, would battle with Apep every night; prayer and worship ensured Ra’s victory and the return of the Sun.

GRBs are among the most powerful explosions in the Universe. Lasting between a few thousandths of a second and a few hours, they can release as much energy as the Sun will output over its entire lifetime. Long-duration GRBs — those which last for longer than 2 seconds — are believed to be caused by the supernova explosions of rapidly-rotating Wolf-Rayet stars.

Some of the most massive stars evolve into Wolf-Rayet stars towards the end of their lives. This stage is short-lived, and Wolf-Rayets survive in this state for only a few hundred thousand years — the blink of an eye in cosmological terms. In that time, they throw out huge amounts of material in the form of a powerful stellar wind, hurling matter outwards at millions of kilometres per hour; Apep’s stellar winds were measured to travel at an astonishing 12 million km/h.

These stellar winds have created the elaborate plumes surrounding the triple star system — which consists of a binary star system and a companion single star bound together by gravity. Though only two star-like objects are visible in the image, the lower source is in fact an unresolved binary Wolf-Rayet star. This binary is responsible for sculpting the serpentine swirls surrounding Apep, which are formed in the wake of the colliding stellar winds from the two Wolf-Rayet stars.

Compared to the extraordinary speed of Apep’s winds, the dust pinwheel itself swirls outwards at a leisurely pace, “crawling” along at less than 2 million km/h. The wild discrepancy between the speed of Apep’s rapid stellar winds and that of the unhurried dust pinwheel is thought to result from one of the stars in the binary launching both a fast and a slow wind — in different directions.

This would imply that the star is undergoing near-critical rotation — that is, rotating so fast that it is nearly ripping itself apart. A Wolf-Rayet star with such rapid rotation is believed to produce a long-duration GRB when its core collapses at the end of its life.

The image is a colour composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), and shows the region surrounding  2XMM J160050.7-514245, nicknamed “Apep”. The field of view is approximately 2.4 x 2.0 degrees. [Higher-res image files]
Notes
[1] Callingham, now at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), did part of this research while at the University of Sydney working with research team leader Peter Tuthill. In addition to observations from ESO telescopes, the team also used the Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia.

Links

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