Slashdot Mirror
Space On a Shoestring
An anonymous reader writes, "Three engineering students from Cambridge University plan to send an unmanned craft into space for £1,000 ($1,880) and have just sent a test mission up 32 km for a lot less. Their snaps from the upper atmosphere are impressive, and were taken by a balloon equipped with off-the-shelf technology including GSM text messaging, radio communications, and an ordinary 5-megapixel camera. They now plan to use a similar craft as a launching stage to get a cheap rocket into space." There's also a video of the balloon launch.
Consumers don't NEED them at all. They're there so the airlines can make a buck.
Anyone familiar with the story of flight 93 knows that cell phones work at the cruising altitude of commericial jet aircraft.
Lee
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.