An education mission to allow a CubeSat in low-Earth orbit (LEO) to be easily operable by members of the general public.This STEM project seems to be a shot backwards!
NASA Announces 12th Round of Candidates for CubeSat Space MissionsThe last two years have brought a big crisis for skywatchers and astronomers : Worsening light pollution from satellites. As large numbers of bright, close satellites are launched to provide a large-bandwidth, low-latency global data network, viewers of the night sky - including many astronomical research programs - have a new, non-removable obstacle to contend with. However, the latest development is truly a shocker: NASA has approved a CubeSat mission that will deliberately "flash" planet Earth from space, making it the brightest artificial light pollution point source in history.
NOW:
Arizona State University, Tempe – LightCube is an education mission to allow a CubeSat in low-Earth orbit (LEO) to be easily operable by members of the general public. The LightCube CubeSat will provide a platform that increases the number of individuals who can participate in space activities. Specifically, anyone with appropriate amateur radio licensing within their jurisdiction and commercial radio equipment available for purchase for less than fifty dollars will be able to telecommand LightCube. The LightCube CubeSat will respond with a flash visible to the naked eye of the commander. In the process of operating LightCube, the user will inevitably learn important science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in areas such as telecommunications, spacecraft design, atmospheric and climate science, and orbital mechanics.
Really a crazy project :-(
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Johannes Stübler
National Coordinator, Austria 🇦🇹
Kepler Sternwarte Linz
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