European Students to Put Microsatellite Into Orbit

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 21, 2005 @06:54PM from the easy-school-project dept.

Astervitude writes "A Frankenstein's microsatellite made out of parts "donated" by university students across Europe will be launched on September 30 atop a Russian booster. Space.com reports that more than 400 students "spread across 23 universities and 12 countries" spent 18 months designing and building the SSETI Express. While its acronym sounds suspiciously similar to that of a project that seeks to uncover signs of intelligent life beyond Earth, the SSETI or Student Space Exploration Technology Initiative mission is actually part of an effort by the European Space Agency "to boost student interest in space technology and offer some hands-on experience." The satellite itself weighs a mere 136 pounds and is the "size of a small washing machine", as shown in this ESA photo. Visitors to the mission site may want to check out the contest page for ham radio operators to help collect data from the satellite."

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Re:I sense a connection... by Urkki · 2005-09-21 22:40 · Score: 1, Offtopic

I would not call Europe communist in general.
I would not call Europe communist at all, not even current Eastern Europe. If you knew what the actual real totalitarian communism was (and unfortunately still is in some corners of the World), you wouldn't even make the comparison.