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Students Take Pictures From Space On $150 Budget

Posted by Soulskill on from the i-can-see-my-house-from-here dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Two MIT students have successfully photographed the earth from space on a strikingly low budget of $148. Perhaps more significantly, they managed to accomplish this feat using components available off-the-shelf to the average layperson, opening the door for a new generation of amateur space enthusiasts. The pair plan to launch again soon and hope that their achievements will inspire teachers and students to pursue similar endeavors."

4 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Damage on landing? by jcr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Their site mentioned that the antenna of the phone got embedded in the ground, and it's not clear from the pictures if they had a parachute on it at all, or if it was just too small.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  2. Re:This is hardly anything new by Kira-Baka · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Some people provide better images too. The site I've linked even provides videos.

  3. Re:This is hardly anything new by Plunky · · Score: 3, Interesting

    By the way, use of the phone at altitude violates FCC regulations and does a denial-of-service attack on cell sites because sites all of the way to the horizon are receiving that frequency.

    I guess, if they thought of it, they could set the phone to not transmit unless it was under a set height and falling. That could save battery power too..

  4. Re:Obligatory by russotto · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Having FAA and FCC investigators show up at your dormroom? Priceless
    Really, one would think MIT students would know better.

    If everyone actually followed all the regulations we have nowadays, no one smaller than Boeing would ever get anything done.