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Satellites on the Cheap

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-thats-cool dept.

An anonymous reader writes "At a cost of just $50,000 - including plane tickets to the Alaska launch site - it was constructed using off-the-shelf parts not designed to withstand the rigors of space. Its life span was only expected to be a few months. Six students put together the satellite last year after a three-year research and design project made possible with a grant from Boeing Co. The Department of Defense (news - web sites) Space Test Program approved the project and put it on a launch list"" Beats doing the egg drop.

7 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. The article shows it... by nikolas · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...there`s no such thing as a free launch!

    Bruuuuhahahah...

  2. Don't we have enough junk in space? by swagr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Somewhere (maybe here) scientists predicted that with the vast ammount of crap zipping about up there, the right type of collision (say bewteen a chunk of solar panel and a sattelite) could cause a chain reaction that would destroy every sattelite in orbit, and make it impossible to launch more.

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    -... --- .-. . -.. ..--..
  3. life span by Alien54 · · Score: 3, Funny
    ``If we get lucky with radiation, it could last three years,'' said Darrell Boden, a professor in the aerospace engineering department.

    Watch, it will be up there still working ten or twenty years from now when it finally falls into the atmosphere.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  4. Re:cost fo getting it into geo-stationary orbit by Arimus · · Score: 2, Funny

    (At this risk of losing most of my karma)
    Given the time this task would consume we'd probably need to keep the cars and sell the wives/girlfriends.

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    --- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
  5. In a related story.... by technopinion · · Score: 5, Funny

    A team of 4 students from Devry Technical Institute cobbled together a nuclear submarine using parts scavenged from the set of Junkyard Wars, and a $300 grant from Kmart. Said the leader of the project, "We expected this thing to immediately sink to the bottom and begin its cycle of ocean-killing, but amazingly enough, it went down at a 30-degree angle, taking almost 3 times longer to sink, and it looks like it might pollute the ocean for many more years than we expected. It's quite incredible!"

    This truly is a great day for amateur scientists.

    1. Re:In a related story.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Sadly enough, that's probably what you'd get from DeVry students building any sub (much less a nuclear one). There are a few smart people at my campus, but the vast majority can't find the power button on the computer or think that you "change your screensaver" to modify the desktop background.

      And then there's the students in my history class that have no clue what the Cold War was. Sheesh.

      (Anon, because I've seen DeVry crack down on criticism before..)

  6. taco bell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Hey, they could make back their cash if it hits that taco bell target!