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ISS Astronauts Fire-Up Awesome 'Cubesat Cannon'

Posted by timothy on from the pew-pew-pew dept.

astroengine writes "As if the International Space Station couldn't get any cooler, the Japanese segment of the orbiting outpost has launched a barrage of small satellites — known as "cubesats" — from their very own Cubesat Cannon! Of course, the real name of the cubesat deployment system isn't quite as dramatic, but the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) adds a certain sci-fi flair to space station science."

19 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Portal by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just pictured a cannon firing weighted companion cubes. But their picture is cool too.

    1. Re:Portal by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      Having just watched the episode of Doctor Who with my boys, I pictured a cannon firing those slow invasion cubes from The Power Of Three all over the world.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:Portal by kelemvor4 · · Score: 4, Funny

      In space they're weightless companion cubes.

    3. Re:Portal by SJHillman · · Score: 5, Funny

      But there's no sense crying over every mistake.
      You just keep on trying till you run out of dehydrated cake.
      And the Science gets done.
      And you make a neat space gun.
      For the astronauts who are still alive.

    4. Re:Portal by OhSoLaMeow · · Score: 2

      In space they're weightless companion cubes.

      But no one can hear them scream.

      --
      They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
    5. Re:Portal by ericloewe · · Score: 3, Funny

      In the unlikely event that you do hear one screaming, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice.

  2. Getting My Own Cubesat by DexterIsADog · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do I have to show my tits to get them to fire a cubesat at me?

    That would be way ugly.

    1. Re:Getting My Own Cubesat by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 3, Funny

      Not if they have a "tit for tat" policy. In that case, you'd only get tats for your tits, and you'd have to offer something else to exchange for a cubesat.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  3. rotation right from when shot? by onepoint · · Score: 2

    I just finished looking at the pictures, the 3 cube stats look to be already rotating, is that common??
    I would have thought that they would just shoot right out without tumbling ??

    --
    if you see me, smile and say hello.
    1. Re:rotation right from when shot? by ThreeKelvin · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yep, perfectly normal. Most (if not all) cubesats tumble when they're jettisoned from their launcher.

      For them not to tumble when they're jettisoned, they would have to have their center of mass perfectly on top of the spring and they'd need to have the exact same friction against the launcher on all four sides. It's much easier to just fit them with a de-tumbling system, e.g. a magnet on a spring.

  4. Propellent Questions by Demonantis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They use springs. The J-SSOD click through in the article has a lot more information on the inner workings of the contraption. Its more like a nerf gun than a cannon. http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kiboexp/jssod/

    1. Re:Propellent Questions by FatLittleMonkey · · Score: 2

      Ah. Different bit. That an attachment point for the Canadarm's or Dextre's "latching end effector".

      [I suspect the reason it's on the Cupola was to allow the Canadarm to grab and move the Cupola into position during initial installation, rather than to allow it or Dextre to attach there now.]

      --
      Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
    2. Re:Propellent Questions by FatLittleMonkey · · Score: 2

      AKA FRGF "flight releasable grapple fixture", sayeth the wikipedia

      --
      Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
  5. Sproinnng! by trongey · · Score: 2

    Oh bloody hell! They just fried my Awesomeness Gauge (tm)!

    --
    You never really know how close to the edge you can go until you fall off.
  6. Won't they hit the ISS on a future orbit? by Goldenhawk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Won't they circle back around and hit the ISS on a future orbit? I'm no rocket scientist, but I recall the idea that anything that departs from a given point in orbit will cross it again, and two objects leaving the same orbital point will both cross it again.

    Maybe solar or atmospheric drag is enough to alter the cubesat orbits, and I know the ISS orbit is raised periodically, but since they were launched FROM the ISS by expelling them, instead of having a propulsive system, both the ISS and the cubesats left a single point in space and ought to converge there again.

    I'd welcome an explantion from a real rocket scientist.

    --
    --Brandon / Split Infinity Music

    1. Re:Won't they hit the ISS on a future orbit? by X0563511 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Unlikely. The synodic period would be on the order of decades I believe, and it would only be the one intersection point - the other near-approach wouldn't intersect.

      So, every synodic period they would have a close approach, and it would have to happen at just the wrong spot.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    2. Re:Won't they hit the ISS on a future orbit? by ClayJar · · Score: 5, Informative

      They're launched from the nadir side in a nadir-aft 45-degree direction to prevent collision with the ISS. That imparts a small negative delta-V (with insertion velocity between 1.1 and 1.7 m/s), so their orbit would begin just slightly below the ISS. Additionally, one of the requirements for CubeSats launched from J-SSOD is that they have a ballistic coefficient of 120 kg/m^2 or less. This means that their orbits will decay faster than the ISS orbit, precluding any potential for collisions over time.

      (The life expectancy on orbit of a CubeSat launched from J-SSOD is something like 100-150 days, depending on orbital parameters as of deployment, solar activity, etc.)

  7. Lasers.... by David_Hart · · Score: 2

    You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have satellites with frickin' laser beams attached to their casings!

    I wonder just how many tiny laser wielding box satellites it would take to make one awesome weapon....

  8. Re:Shall not be infinged... by foobar+bazbot · · Score: 2

    Hey, the Russians beat them by about 40 years.