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UT Student-Built Spacecraft Separate and Communicate
BJ_Covert_Action writes "Some students from the Cockrell School of Engineering in Austin, Texas have built, developed, launched, and operated two historic satellites. The FASTRAC satellites make up the first small-scale satellite system which is composed of two separate spacecraft that can communicate to each other. On March 22, the single FASTRAC satellite successfully separated into two smaller spacecraft that are currently operating and communicating with each other. While separation and communication has occurred between paired satellites before, this is the first time it has been done with such a small platform (the FASTRAC spacecraft weigh approximately 60 lbs.). Furthermore, this is the first time a student-designed and built space system has been composed of two separate spacecraft that can interact with each other. One of the most impressive things about this mission is that it was done incredibly cheap, at $250,000, which is far below the costs associated with traditional spacecraft."
So does this mean they're downloading songs off KaZaA, Grokster, and iMesh?
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
wow...it's orbiting Uranus
Your mom is orbiting my... wait, I can't tell if I'm doing this joke properly or not.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
obvious troll is obvious.
Just another extraterrestrial anal probe.
Now count the hours spend, add the costs of this being a project done by people are/have learned the ropes along the way of this project. Replace those factors with the hourly cost of a team of engineers and don't forget to call a insurance company for liability issues if your are offering this as a commercial service and all of a sudden we come to realize that education, labour and insurance cost more than the components your satellite + spaceship were made out of. This part wasn't exactly rocket science.
You obviously have no clue what it takes to design, build, launch and operate a successful system in space. $250,000 is downright highway robbery when large-scale systems can easily move into 10-digit figures. So, yes. $250,000 is very cheap. YOU'RE IN F'ING SPACE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
Both craft are also radio relays. You can talk via them if overhead. http://fastrac.ae.utexas.edu/for_radio_operators/users/phpBB3/predictedorbit.php
FASTRAC 1 2M UP LINK / 440 DOWN LINK
FASTRAC 2 440 UP LINK / 2M DOWN LINK
AX-25 1200 AND 9600 BAUD
IT'S A TRAP! damn goatse pic!
[But be sure to avoid the ugly connotations of "from a Certain Point of View(TM)".]
Lets put up 120 pound of material into orbit with no more use that to prove that they can communicate. Isn't there an issue with junk in orbit?
one million american dollars, yeah it is kind of cheap.
There is a great book about the Soviet side of the early space days. One of their test V7 rockets blew up, the chief designer and his friend were almost crying about the massive amount of money they had just wasted, enough to support whole villages several times over.
When Sputnik launched, it captured the human imagination so powerfully that even the communist apparatchiks of Kruschev's regime had to pay respect to Korolev, and even the children of the imperialists were out in their backyards tuning their radios to the transmissions of the godless communist enemy. The man Korolev, though they would not know the man's name for another couple dozens years, as he was kept a secret so the CIA would not assassinate him, and his team, inspired the whole world.
And now, this feat costs $250,000... less than the price of a fighter jet, or a hollywood movie, or a TV show episode, and it can be done by civilians. It is truly remarkable, and a great story for slashdot.
IMHO
Have captchas been broken so much that even script kiddies are in on the act or are the Parent and GP just off their medicine?
The satellites were launched by a Minotaur IV rocket from Alaska.
These rockets are derived from converted old Minuteman/Peacekeeper ICBMs.
Despite that, the launch costs of such a rocket can still be $40-50 million
So, unless you can score a free ride for your doohickey, it ain't so cheap.
FASTRAC 1: Hey sibling FASTRAC, anything happening over there?
FASTRAC A: Nope - it's space fool.
FASTRAC 1: Well, at least we have each other.
FASTRAC A: I hate you.
I don't have a clue, I noticed this phenomenon recently, and nobody can explain it.
Can bots really post to slashdot? Maybe a user creates an account, then gives each bot a un and pw. The bot parses the form /. offers then submits the random values, remembering to select the check-box closest to the AC box.
No, I didn't write the damn thing, I hated it when I first saw it but I got to thinking whether it was person or not. I saw your comment and realised that broken CAPTCHAs were less likely than the solution above. It only seems to appear a few times at most on each article, so it's possible some very bored pest could do it alone, or a bot which waits for the next article or number of comments could do it.
In fact, I suspect two accounts and two bots are involved, because one always replies to the other (at least recently)
This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
Perhaps this is a coded/steganographic communication intended to be lost in the noise?
Mental illness much more likely cause. Like the GP said off their meds.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
It's the reply that's making me think there's something more. Also, I haven't seen many schitzophrenic screeds that short.
"One of the most impressive things about this mission is that it was done incredibly cheap, at $250,000, which is far below the costs associated with traditional spacecraft."
That's like being impressed that a moped is cheaper than Bugatti Veyron. No effing duh the moped is cheaper.
Whenever I hear the NASA budget or the cost of commercial projects like this, I always ask myself if the people working on it are being paid way too much. I mean, real technical human labor seems to have skyrocketed in price, no pun intended.
Never say never. Ah!! I did it again!
I never thought i'd say this the first time i saw it , but after some time , you do get used to goatse.
It's only mildly disgusting to me now.
Slipping shoelaces ?
my bad
i thought they had a rocket for $250k. lols.
I didn't RTFA (this is slashdot, after all), but for $250,000, I'm guessing that the engineering, assembly, overhead, and all other costs other than raw parts were not included. It's like watching HGTV renovate a kitchen for $4,000, and then asking if a local GC can renovate yours for the same amount.
It's cool that they got to do it, but when the "cost" you claim is two orders of magnitude smaller than what it actually costs, and the reason is that you didn't actually account for the total costs of the mission, it rings a bit hollow.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
It's amusing that THEIR satellite separated successfully, but we lost a climate change survey satellite because of some bad self-stealing stem bolts or something. Seriously?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
But did they Stop, Collaborate, & Listen as well?
I found the "Any" key.
I never thought i'd say this the first time i saw it , but after some time , you do get used to goatse. It's only mildly disgusting to me now.
You're on a slippery slope...as it were.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Huh, so the Aggies had it right after all. We refer to them as t.u.
150 people over 7 years who you didn't need to be pay, and they didn't pay for the launch, AND it's not a long term mission.
It was cheaper you say? I'm shocked I tell you, simply shocked.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on