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Big Hopes for Tiny Satellites

shelflife writes: "ST5, according to NASA, will usher in a new era of small, smart spacecraft. Why send a human into space when you can send a computer? And why send something almost as heavy as a UNIVAC if a laptop will do? Compact nanosatellites will have everything you'd want in a full-size, luxury satellite. They will have the attitudinal and navigational capabilities needed to maintain proper orbits, and they will be capable of complex, high-bandwidth communications functions."

3 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Why not? by dghcasp · · Score: 5, Funny
    Why send a human into space when you can send a computer

    That would have made Apollo 11 a really boring movie: write(nasafd,"houston, we have a problem",31)

  2. Re:If we're sending MicroSATs to space by ekrout · · Score: 2, Funny
    The solar flare disturbance simulator functions are right before all of the methods stolen from the Linux and BSD kernel.


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  3. Re:Surviving re-entry by unitron · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why not just send the shuttle by to snag 'em with a big butterfly net and bring 'em home?

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