Slashdot Mirror
Build Your Own Linux-Based Satellite
An anonymous reader writes "For $10 million, SpaceDev is offering a Linux-based microsatellite that can be controlled over the internet using any laptop or desktop computer. The Modular Microsat Bus utilizes such things as plug and play USB, Ethernet, and other standards, while providing critical features such as power, maneuvering, and communication for you. Up to 40 kg of project space are at your disposal"
At that price I'll take two, they're small.
Find coupons in Greeley
Apparently you launch it by throwing it really, really hard.
These students got theirs into space for $120,000. Sure, that doesn't include "donated material, equipment and expertise", or the estimated $40,000 launch cost, but let's be optimistic and call it $250,000 all told. Well, get 50 people in and it's only $5000 each -- less than a good used car. Make it 500 people and you've got the cost down to less than a trip for two to Vegas. And for this I get to help send a satellite running Linux into space -- as close as I'm likely to come to making the trip myself.
I know that ham radio folks are already doing this sort of thing, but they've got their own goals. I admit, mine are a bit fuzzy beyond "put this L33+ satellite into space", but that's kind of appealing too. What could we cram on a picosatellite? What imaging can you do for cheap -- what resolution, what wavelengths? And of course, the question everyone wants answered: Can you host a webserver in space, and could it survive a Slashdotting?
I think something like this would be cool beyond measure. Who's in?
Carousel is a lie!
WooHoo! Now I can get my own death ray satellite!
World conquest, here I come!
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
It's amazing what they can do with SoC's these days, isn't it? The only part I don't understand is, how are they expecting that these sats going to fly? AFAIK, NASA stopped flying PongSats on the Space Shuttle after the Challenger incident. (aka, "The Get Away Special") Are they planning to pool these sats together to pay for a booster? Or do you have to get your own? Where is that $10 million going? (For the cost of a couple of these, I could buy a Delta II and send 100-200 desktop towers into space! And that would be assuming I used Car Batteries to power them!)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Orbiting brain lasers.
<xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
And just in time for X-Mas too!
Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
Even on an oblique overhead pass, in low earth orbit maximum time in view is about 7 minutes. The article doesn't mention using a satellite relay network but of course... such things cost extra :)
-everphilski-
Unfortunately, because of its diminutive size, this satellite can only be put into orbit around a large city at best. For true Earth orbit, you need to spend real money.
Unknown host pong.
I think that the picosats are cool, but there is not a ton that you can do in such a small package. A small transponder, some radiation experiments, no reasonable optics will fit in that tight a package, and even if they did you would need to accomodate stabilizing gear.
/.ing, I think the sat would have no problem, due to the rather low speed of the anticipated link (no dish, just a whip antenna, so BW will bw lower). Whether the page will be viewable with a million geeks trying to share a 10kbps link, I dunno.
That said, they are great for universities, where the resulting knowledge gained is the goal and the useful science is almost gravy.
As to the
-nB
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
I can't wait for the first P2P provider to send their network into space.
eDonkey 2001: A Space Odyssey
multiple primary payloads...SpaceX Falcon I and Orbital Sciences Pegasus.
(from the f*cking article)
-everphilski-
Slap a web server on it and you've got "POOOORRN FROOOOOM SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!"
With a long enough cable, I could recharge my iPod Shuffle from orbit.
With Satellite, I can then research Composites or Fiber-Optics!!
http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/techtree/
~jennifer.k~
Also, why is it so special that the satelite runs linux?
You must be new here. Welcome to Slashdot! It doesn't matter what it is, or why it runs Linux, so long as it does. Kitchen appliances? Check. Stuffed animals? Check. Dead flies? We're all over it.
Ok guys and gals, is there anything we can do at Slashdot to pool togeather some money and have one built? I'm willing to donate up to $100. I would love to see everyone donate money to have a Slashdot Sat put into space along with the names of those who contribute. Also, I would love to have access to the Sat for shits and grins.
What can it be used for? does it matter? The fact I can access a Sat that can later be upgraded with software totally turns me on!
Life is not for the lazy.
I wonder who's gonna plug something in the satellite once launched in space...
I hate all sigs, mine included.
** Comes free with IE6 and WinFS Beta
40 kg ? How much is that in frikken lasers ?
Now all I need is a USB-compatible shark brain to pilot it...
2. Threaten to blow up planet (10 times)
3. Profit !
There are too much joke potential with the idea of throwing out to space Windows computers also, but of course, nobody wants that a blue screen turns it into a red meteorite of death.
I am a member of a team building a pico satellite at the University of California. The actual price for our entire project hovers around $50,000, of which 40k go to launch costs. This is the price tag for a Russian launch, I am sure the US would charge quite a bit more. The problem with these pico satellites is actually integrating a full fledged OS onto OTS parts. Data memory and program memory are in limited supply, along the lines of KB. We are using an Atmel CPU and are running AVR library from the http://www.avrfreaks.net/ website. The actual module we are writing is for the CPU scheduler. The interupt handler, bus protocols, etc are already written. Running this minimal amount of code is beneficial and doesnt overload the small amount of data memory we can utilize, so basically you can run less than a full on OS like linux and still get away with it.
"What imaging can you do for cheap -- what resolution, what wavelengths?"
The imaging comes down to the type of camera and it's power consumption. Image processing really loads the CPU and draws a lot of power, so compression algorithms are important. JPEG does the job fine, but is limited to around 320x res (in color) given our power constraints. The camera we are using is a CMOS imager, which works through the charging of capacitors relative to the intensity of incoming light. The wavelength of operation ultimately comes down to the FCC. They allocate you a bandwidth to use, most likely 2m or 440MHz. Other functions the satellite may serve is as a HAMsat, or a HAM radio repeater in space. You can tune you radio to the sat freq, and hit any place that the satellite covers with your signal. The preferred mode of operation is digital, so sat comm utilizes packet radio, which loosely resembles the TCP/IP stack. As far as a webserver goes, Im sure you could do it, but it would be limited to the length of one satellite path. Guess thats enough time for a 30 second pr0n clip...
but damn is it funny, every time i watch it.
m l
http://www.starterupsteve.com/swf/switchlinux3.ht
especially funny, in the context of this topic