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CanSat Helps Students Make & Launch Sub-Orbital 'Satellites' (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the up-up-and-away-in-my-beautiful-rocket-or-balloon dept.

The Magnitude (motto: "Powered by Curiosity") "Can-sized satellites" aren't technically satellites because they're launched on rockets that typically can't get much higher than 10,000 feet, or as payloads on weather balloons that can hit 100,000+ feet but (obviously) can't go beyond the Earth's atmosphere. But could they be satellites? Sure. Get a rocket with enough punch to put them in orbit and off you go -- something Magnitude Co-founder and CEO Ted Tagami hopes to see happening in his local school district by 2020. Meanwhile, they'll sell you assembled CanSat packages or help you build your own (or anything in between), depending on your schools resources and aspirations. Have a question or an idea? Talk to Ted. He'd love to hear from you. Use the Magnitude Web form or send email to hello at magnitude dot io. Either way works.

22 comments

  1. ARLISS by taniwha · · Score: 1

    Isn't this what ARLISS http://www.arliss.org/ has been doing for 10 years now

    1. Re:ARLISS by taniwha · · Score: 1

      ah - I see Bob Twiggs, who started ARLISS, is on these guy's board ... so it's sort of a continuation

    2. Re:ARLISS by Roblimo · · Score: 1

      They're hooked together -- Bob Twiggs is the common point, and "the man" behind a lot of the "citizen satellites" stuff that's been popping up in the last decade.

      Arliss:
      "ARLISS began as a cooperative program between Professor Bob Twiggs of Stanford, his colleagues at other universities worldwide and members of AeroPac led by Pius Morizumi and Tom Rouse. The first ARLISS event was held in 1999."

      Magnitude.io:
      ADVISORY BOARD
      Professor Bob Twiggs
      Robert Twiggs has been a professor of astronautical engineering at MSU in July 2009. He was instrumental in the development of a space systems curriculum. Prior to his time at MSU, Twiggs was a consulting professor in the aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University for 14 years. He is responsible for developing the curriculum for students interested in designing, building and operating small space experiments. He helped develop the original concepts for the CricketSat, CanSat, CubeSat and the PocketQub for educational applications for use in space. In 2010 he was selected as by the Space News publication as one of 10 space professionals “That Made a Difference in Space”. One of his recent publications is as a co-author of the article “Citizen Satellites” in the February 2011 Scientific American. He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Idaho and an master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

      Question: "Why doesn't Slashdot do an interview with Prof. Twigg?"
      Answer: We should. I'll talk to Tim, see who he wants to do it. :)

  2. Launch from balloon by hyades1 · · Score: 1

    I wonder whether a weather balloon ride to the top of the atmosphere, then a rocket launch, could produce an orbit or two before reentry. The weather balloon would get up to about 20 miles, leaving about 70 or 80 to go.

    It seems like a long way, but without a lot of air resistance...

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    1. Re:Launch from balloon by taniwha · · Score: 1

      to get into orbit you need to be going sideways fast enough that as gravity pulls you down you miss the edge of the earth 100k ft (20 miles) still has enough atmosphere that that's hard (esepcially with a non guided rosket, just fins, that can't go up then pull that fast right turn). Launching above 100kft also requires extra federal oversight that makes it a whole extra magnitude of effort

    2. Re:Launch from balloon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      to get into orbit you need to be going sideways fast enough that as gravity pulls you down you miss the edge of the earth 100k ft (20 miles) still has enough atmosphere that that's hard (esepcially with a non guided rosket, just fins, that can't go up then pull that fast right turn). Launching above 100kft also requires extra federal oversight that makes it a whole extra magnitude of effort

      ---Kilofeet (kft)? I like your use of units. It's very American with a bit of Euro flair.

    3. Re:Launch from balloon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many times is an idiot going to ask the same question. And what distinguishes this company from all the other cube sat companies? Except for its failure to deliver.

    4. Re:Launch from balloon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congradulations.

      You've re-discovered the rockoon:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockoon

    5. Re:Launch from balloon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you go up to 100kft, drift over the ocean into international airspace, and then launch, do you still need federal oversight?

    6. Re:Launch from balloon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At that point you just GET oversight, from a fleet of classified spy satellites and presumably armed drones, whether you want it or not :P

    7. Re:Launch from balloon by hyades1 · · Score: 1

      LOL. You deserved mod points for that.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  3. The only thought I have by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yea! More space junk!

    1. Re:The only thought I have by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Optimist. I predict more man made meteor showers.

    2. Re:The only thought I have by sycodon · · Score: 1

      Wonder if one of these rockets can punch a hole in an airliner.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  4. Magnitude? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Magnitude (motto: "Powered by Curiosity")

    Wrong! It's "Pop Pop!!!"

  5. space junk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remember when people worried about the issue of too much material floating around our outer atmosphere? It hasn't gone away, but with the planet facing climate and over population problems, who really gives a damn. Fuck it up even more, might as well.

  6. Great, lethal space debris. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Can sized".

    So, bigger than the 1cm size that the International Space Station can handle an impact from, and just a bit smaller than NORAD can track (something upwards of 10cm).

    Terrific. (Yes. I realized that even in orbit these probably wouldn't be high enough to affect ISS, but still...) Please keep these suborbital.

  7. CanSat is for cows, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are all cows. Cows say moo. MOOOOOOO! MOOOOOO! Moo cows MOOOOO! Moo say the cows. YOU COWS, EH??

  8. What could go wrong? by Legal.2.Troll · · Score: 1

    NOTHING, that's what! --Legal.Troll (dodging his -1 Karma)

  9. CanSat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I kept looking for some Canadian content....

  10. Late to the game by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

    Amateur radio folk have been launching private sats for a very long time, and championed the cubesat format. We foster university-sponsored sats all the time. Many of these are university-sponsored sats.

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.