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Using an Old Space-Suit as a Satellite
Andrew-Unit writes "The ARRL has an interesting article about an amateur satellite project where some amateur radio electronics will be crammed into an old spacesuit and chucked out of the window of the International Space Station."
It's only radio machinery.
btw, is this FP?
The best planning can be done after the project completes.
... and so the 1st Inglewood satellite is launched...
MoM++ - A Classic Expanded - [Master of Magic 1.5]
http://mompp.sourceforge.net/
Do we really need more space junk orbiting Earth?
What does a spacesuit have that a box of quarter inch steel plate doesn't? I bet the suit weighs alot more and I KNOW the electronics dont need a human atmosphere.
In soviet russia... wait, are these Russian kids? That would explain everything. (nope, didn't RTFA, and neither did you.)
Power to the Peaceful
now they can broadcast the War of the Worlds to the whole globe simultaneously and scare the sh*t out of everyone like they did in the 1930s!
it really would be a transmission from outer space!
Is that an antenna in your pocket...?
In space, one doesn't 'chuck' - one 'deploys' ie:
Space: "Then we will deploy the space suit..."
Earth: "Vern chucked his fast food container out the window of his car"
Other permutations do not work ie:
Officer: "What do you think you are doing?"
Vern: "Hey officer, just deploying my garbage..."
AT&ROFLMAO
I find it amazing (and heartening) that in this world of money, and greed, that some people will build satellites, and get them launched into space, purely so Amateur Radio hams can bounce off them and talk all around the world. I've never done it myself, but I've watched someone going in on 2 metres, and hearing their output on 10. You only get a few minutes before the satellite disappears below the horizon again, but it's still cool.
You could also listen to Mir on 143.625.
Get your own free personal location tracker
Aliens will be deterred thinking that they are cops orbitting around earth!!!
hilarious
Can you say: "cosmic rays" ?
\u262D = \u5350
It seems the only 'amateur radio' equipment to be included is a single transmitter - everything else is going to be a bunch of CDs with school artwork on them - it's not clear whether the contents of the CDs are to be transmitted, or just, rather pointlessly, IMHO, held in orbit....
But throwing it out of thewindow of the ISS? come on, this must be a joke. why would you want to do that? It costs (hundreds of) thousands of dollars to get a few kilo's in that orbit. If you are able to spend such an amount of money, surely you can make/buy something better than that? If this is real, then maybe the russians don't have such a crisis with paying for their progress supply ships after all. I propose reducing ESA's budget by the estimated worth of this frivolous spacesuit in orbit.
On the other hand, if the spacesuit is already up there and needs to replaced anyhow, then I'd say go for it. It certenly tickles the imagination as the following discussions will prove..
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
Assuming it will be facing in the correct direction it should give the first point of view of a person stranded in space re-entering earth's atmosphere.
"Here's you in space... here's you coming home..."
enclosing the guts of the satellite -- i.e. the technology -- in a shell such as this seems a pretty good idea. since the space-suit isn't brittle, it should be less susceptible to shattering by micro-meteorites and space-debris.
i guess power supply would be a problem though?
You made a funny! ... er, oh, you were serious... *backs away slowly*
... uhn, you should probably ignore that.
===
It is rather cool, all jokes aside, indeed, that I could pay my astronaut friends (if I ever find any) to throw my Great Space Toaster out the "window" (see also: airlock) so that I can remote control my orbital mind control lasers without that 2 seconds of lag.
Muhahah!
MoM++ - A Classic Expanded - [Master of Magic 1.5]
http://mompp.sourceforge.net/
This is going to be the most ridiculous flying object ever. Or well, almost...
- Is it a bird?
- Is it a plane?
- NO!!! It's some radioamateur stuff in an old astronaut suit!
..after traveling for thousands of years, an alien crafts effort of final contact is foiled after crashing into, what appears to be- a satellite wearing spacesuite, just beyond the earths atmosphere..
In case it gets hot, perhaps?
...subjecting suits to the harsh zero-pressure, high temperature gradient, deadly radiation environment. Always seemed like a good idea.
.. future-Gryllidae-overlords-of-the-earth archeologist clique, collecting space debris for detailed analysis, find an old 'human skin vessel' floating out there, ever-watching, ever alert ..
its enough to make you want to chitillate ones carapace, ew.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
I hope my wife doesn't read this story. Otherwise the next time she goes to throw out all my "lucky" (read:Confortable) shirts she will just tell me "I am redploying them"
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
All this satellite needs is a cantenna in one hand, and a WirelessB Pistol in the other, and web-controlled to point at the most-disliked federal area...a tie between Compton (California), Bronx (New York), or in the general direction of New Jersey (a stereotype I have yet to comprehend).
I am the nightmare of nightmares.
they should study farts in spacesuits more.
OK, so the "chuck it in a spacesuit" concept negates any possibility of attitude control, so any kind of solar power is out.
And I'm REALLY hoping they're not planning on any kind of nuclear power option here...
Which appears to leave batteries and the only real option for powering this thing.
How long can this thing transmit for before running out of power? And is it really worth this much fuss?
They had better remember to wind the window back up when they're done.
Contacts made from/to the ISS
Official NASA ISS Amateur Radio Page
ARRL ISS Page
It's incredibly easy to talk to the ISS from the earth... you don't need a particularily high-powered radio to do it. In fact, the radio on the ISS is a plain jane, Kenwood dual-band radio.
I can just imagine the scenario where it all goes horribly wrong.
"No, wait, Gennady! Thats not it, thats me-aaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhh!"
The International Space Station is leaking oxygen after being hit by what has officially been described as 'space junk' but many believe to be an object malicously planted in the path of the ISS' orbit by filthy terrorists...
Once again, with the Space Shuttles still not running, the lives of our brave and noble astronauts will be saved by another standard Soyuz supply mission.
"I think I can get him before he gets there... he's almost in range."
"That's no satellite! It's a space suit!"
"It's too small to be a space suit."
"I have a very bad feeling about this."
There is something morbidly funny about seeing a human silhouette floating in orbit.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
Exactly, besides it looks better than duct tape.
--Residential Interior Design
Why would the ISS have windows that open??
is not a word.
Apart from that, yeah, a shoddy old spacesuit should do no difference - whereas it would do a difference if more people started taking the bus (or even better, the bike) instead the car to work.
..are you crazy? Now which spacesuit will Bruce Willis use?
I plan on doing the same thing with some old gym shorts and my car next week.
Consider for yourself. Have spacesuit. Therefore, will travel...
Seriously, the suit has exhausted its useful life. It could be sent to Earth - but it means waiting for Shuttle ('twas a long wait already... hope they'll fly soon anyway). It's possible - technically - to return it by Soyuz, but impossible logistics-wise - Soyuz can carry about 50 kilogram from station to Earth, and there are way more important things to catch the next Soyuz ride downward. Like results of experiments, for instance.
Spacesuit can be just thrown out-the-window. In fact, that was initially proposed. Yes, it's a space junk - but only for relatively short period; atmosphere will "land" it in a matter of weeks.
So, why not squeeze some more usefulness out of the equipment? The suit can carry a transceiver, for sure. The suit is already on board - and the air inside it will wark as thermoinsulator for the electronics for some time (there is some reason, after all, why almost all Soviet and Russian satellites up until recently were germetically sealed and carried air to orbit).
Be a great joke to play on the new guys. The first ghost story in space. And they say old Bob still orbits around these parts, forever relaying ham radio signals.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
IIRC, the soviets hand launched a few satellites known as "Iskra" from the Salyut-7 manned station. They were relatively short lived, but gave 2-way communications to properly equipped stations.
S ats.htmlA quick synopsis of hand-launched sats
http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/HandLaunched
That would seem to indicate that if the ISS didnt make any prograde burns, it too would be entering the atmosphere in several weeks.
I say wierd because I had presumed that ISS, like Mir would take a few months to reach an unrecoverable orbit which would lead to a re-entry.
SO, they throw it downwards when they launch the suit? Well, Im no physicist - and this is only what I remember from my school days; if you were to throw something downwards with the maximum force available to a human from the ISS, then the object would return to you hours or days later because its angular velocity in relation to the orbit wouldnt have changed.
In order to actually alter the continous orbit of the suit as you launch it, you would have to either throw the suit out ahead of the ISS (To make it go higher) or throw it backwards along the ISS orbit to make it go lower.
However, I would rather suspect that an overhand throw of a spacesuit wouldnt make any siginificant difference in the time taken for re-entry to occur.
Come to think of it. - Every force has an equal and opposite. which indicates that the ISS crew are going to have to fashion some sort of rocket to get the suit going. - A small compresses air cylinder would come to mind but would be hard to aim. You could of course blow it from the airlock but youd have to correct the ISS orbit using Progress afterwards.
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
Well, at least the spacesuit won't be crammed with a dead Frank Poole.
It can protect the radio gear better than a mere spacesuit. Besides, if you can land it, it can still run!
Bumper sticker -> Bugs in Space!
Neat, novel satellite hardware is chucked out of the space station.
On the other side of the Earth on the orbit path, the twain shall meet again and the novel invention rams a solar panel, causing ISS to hurtle down to Earth.
we send politicians instead? At least, if something goes wrong we don't loose anything we may need.
One South American poet writes how embarrassing it was for a son's father to die in a hurricane from a flying banana. But it would be even more embarrassing to arrive in space only to be run over by a VW beetle going 15,000 MPH.
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Godam CAPTCHA is messing with my eyes!]
Europeans in the Middle Ages tossed their "night soil" (feces et al) out windows onto the roadways each morning. Now we hurl our shit into space.
That'll look strange in orbit to any 'unexpecting' viewers.
I like the part about the schools being allowed to supply one 8-1/2 by 11 inch picture, make absolutely sure it is in jpeg format because they burn up better, to be included on a CD, in order to be burned up with the suit.
....
Teacher: Mary, your artwork is so good, were going to burn it. And it's not going to be a normal "throw it in the incinerator" type of burn; we are going to burn it in the most incredible heat possible, and spread the ashes all over the planet so there is no possibility of recovery.
Mary:
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
Aren't they taking this "Burning Man" festival a little too far?
lexbaby
"Be Brave, Be Loyal, Be True." -- Hawkeye Pierce
Ok, so given that it costs something like millions of dollars to launch even a small few pound payload, why the hell are they worried about the cost of making a real satellite? My understanding is that you can make something space hardened fairly easily (which is the only point of the suit, AFAIK) and that the vast majority of the cost of a simple satellite comes from the launch.
Plus, having a human shaped thing floating around in orbit gives me the creeps. Can you imagine what that looks like to other life forms? "Xzarg, look what these people do to their criminals! Fuck this, keep driving."
I like your accounting style. Did you work for Enron?
Even worse, it is going to cost a lot of money to bring those stupid elementary school drawings up there. There is a large cost per kilogram of payload on every ship. Maybe they could save some money by printing it on surplus paper.
What is the scientific merit here? Let's fund some scientific research, such as Voyager or Hubble. This is asinine. Maybe we ought to declare the whole ISS as "surplus" and sell our share to the Chinese. It's surplus, so every penny is profit!
They are probably using a space suit because the radiation shielding and temperature controls will allow them to use electronics that are not space hardened. It's a smaller waste of money that way.
In the past, hams have had some high earth orbiting birds up as well, which have allowed worldwide QSOs. Oscar 4, AO-10, AO-13, and AO-40 were high earth orbiting satellites, capable of worldwide QSOs and extended operating windows up to 10 hours long or more. Sadly, none of these satellites is currently considered operational. Of these, AO-10 is brain dead and has no attitude control, but occasionally the solar panels and the antennas line up in a favorable orientation as it tumbles through space, and communications are occasionally possible. AO-13 and AO-4 have reentered the atmosphere, after partial failure of their secondary boosters, but provided some service. AO-40 suffered a crippling explosion onboard about a month after launch, but was partially recovered and provided an S-band downlink, along with uplinks on 70cm, 23cm, and 3cm IIRC. It suffered a catastrophic battery failure in January, 2004 and has been silent ever since.
Not to be discouraged, a new satellite, currently designated as Phase 3E is being prepared for launch by and will hopefully reach orbit later in 2005 or early 2006.
Sorry about the blown link in the last paragraph, the link is for AMSAT-DL.
Hey, don't knock it. The only reason launch is 'expensive' is because of the resource games we play down here, and a lack of long range investors. If someone finds a way to negate the economic impacts of added launch weight, then we can start focusing on launching what is technically possible. (which is alot)
If we ever get a real colonization program going, it will quite possibly involve some kind of government subsidy per colonist. With the economic impact off the launcher, the ships will be made as large as possible (up to the limit of what the government can afford)
So if enron-style accounting can get us 'free' launch mass, I say go for it. This could be the greatest moment in the history of spaceflight.
Abolish Copyright. Restore Freedom.
Then time the thing to scream about 15 minutes before re-entry.
That should keep the Aliens away for a bit.Why wouldn't they just ziptie the suit to the outside of the station somewhere. Given the cost of bringing stuff into orbit, I can't see why they would just throw this away. Aside from any potentially useful parts for emergency (ore even permanent) repair, it could even be useful down the road as plain old reaction mass.
I'm truly sorry. I thought he was the satellite. So how do you plan to retrieve him?
My father (K6QXB) was telling me about this over Memorial Day weekend, but I'd had a bit much beer and don't remember much about it. Thanks for refreshing my memory, /.!
Ok, I can see some interest in some amateur experiments with radio in this thing, but what's the point of sticking a CD full of student artwork in it just to have it get fried after a couple of weeks? They could throw some artwork into an incinerator on earth and get as much out of it. If that's all they can think to do with this thing, it's a particularly powerful indicator of how bad science education has gotten...
If they want some kids to express themselves, have them put the artwork up on the web or in a gallery or something-- giving them the impression that "flying" it in a spacesuit is anything but a circle-jerk is really pathetic.
Aliens : "hey there's a poor man around the Earth to rescue!"
Aliens : "it will take 2 days to get there but let's go"
Aliens : "Damn, it's just a fucking space suit!"
"NASA, the suit-sat has been deployed and is now 500 meters away. It's an interesting looking satellite, with the arms waving about as the suit tumbles.
"Um, where's Commander Jones? Anyone seen him around?"
-- I have monkeys in my pants.
Who cares about satellites thrown into orbit from the window of the iss...
I wanna see a geocache thrown into orbit from the window of the iss!
Depending on who you ask, there's a good chance of them being detected and viewed by an alien civilisation at some time in the future.
I think that beats incinerating a CD-R, don't you?
Let's hope the stuff being chucked out the window doesn't have any AI, else the message sent back will look like:
dah ditditditdit dit dahditdahdah dah ditditditdit ditdahdit dit ditdahdah dahdah dit dahdahdah ditditdah dah dah ditditditdit dit ditdahdah ditdit dahdit dahditdit dahdahdah ditdahdah ditditdit dah dahdahdah ditdahdahdit ditdahdahdit ditdahditdit dit ditdah ditditdit dit ditditdit dit dahdit dahditdit ditditditdit dit ditdahditdit ditdahdahdit ditditdit dah dahdahdah ditdahdahdit dahditdit ditdah dahdah dahdit ditdit ditdahdahdahdahdit dahdah dahditdahdit dahdahdah ditdahditdit dahditdit ditditdit dah dahdahdah ditdahdah
OK, some bad one-liners...
"In SPACE, nobody can hear that suit scream..."
WHy SHOULDN't this be attempted? After all, I guess, ummm, it *suits* their purposes...
Better not put a "pocket rocket" into that thing... it might blast off onto something...
Or, even just a wee-wee bit of pocket pool, and that suit could go shooting off or shooting on some new uncharted course...
Talk about USED clothing... Imagine if instead of it falling into and burning up in the atmosphere Uranus somehow enveloped that suit:
You've got RING around the Coh-lurh
And, if those clothes/that suit bump into another orbital device and damage it, I imagine it won't generate a lot of... "Goodwill", hehe
But, if we name the project "Pluto" and put a Macy's LOAD of asteroid-washed suits around a certain planet, we truly COULD state: "IN SPACE we have Plutonic rings around UrAnus"...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"