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TubeSat - DIY Satellite Kit

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LAN_403

thedatastream

Fri Oct 30 2009, 01:49PM

Registered Member #505 Joined: Sun Nov 19 2006, 06:42PM
Location: Yorkshire!
Posts: 329

This is awesome.

Do you think we should all chip in and put 4HVSAT into low earth orbit? I'm game!

James

3l3ctrici7y

Fri Oct 30 2009, 02:25PM

Registered Member #1806 Joined: Sun Nov 09 2008, 04:58AM
Location: USA
Posts: 136

Very interesting.
I only did a cursory examination of the first link, and what struck me was that they propose to put a satellite in orbit, but have you pay with PayPal.
They can put a sat in orbit, but can't spring for proper cc processing?
It smells fishy.

Bjørn

Fri Oct 30 2009, 05:30PM

Registered Member #27 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058

The cost is $8000 and we would need another $8000 to put something in it. So if we are 100 people willing to pay that is $160 each. Considering that every group buy on 4HV ends in a failure of some sort it seems entirely unrealistic. There is also a considerable chance that they will never manage to launch it.

Obviously I am in if we can find the remaining $15 680.

Proud Mary

Fri Oct 30 2009, 05:49PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Sounds very exciting - the kind of thing we should get involved with when we already have a solid 24-months pre-payment for all the day to day expenses of the forum.

Then you can say, x - y - z - you few regular contributors, what shall we do with this small excess of cash?

Finn Hammer

Fri Oct 30 2009, 10:06PM

Registered Member #205 Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 11:59AM
Location: SkÃ¸rping, Denmark
Posts: 741

Guys,
Can you frankly say, that this cylindrical can looks even remotely like something that is space-worthy.

Can you spell to fraud?
The guys behind this look more like rip off artists than space scientists to me.

The old curmudgeon.

They say it is the crew module, but my guess is it is a urinal, judging from the posture of the guy to the right.

rp181

Fri Oct 30 2009, 10:16PM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529

I have to agree. They mention solar cells, I guess those are for the inside....

Bjørn

Fri Oct 30 2009, 10:42PM

Registered Member #27 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058

If they have worked for 13 years on this they will not afford to run very far after paying their bills so it is hard to imagine that someone thought up such a fraud and spend money on it for all this time. The last thing they look like are rip off artists unless they plan to make the first launches perfectly then book 100 people for a space flight for a million each before they run.

The satellite prototype looks fine, a metal cylinder is the perfect shape. Proper photovoltaic cells are paper thin and flexible and you glue them to the surface. If you think that looks questionable, look at this:

this is someone that does work for NASA.

They show up at the right places and are seen with the right people but it is far from that to being able to launch a proper orbital rocket so I doubt they have the required skills.

Dave Marshall

Sat Oct 31 2009, 04:15PM

Registered Member #16 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 02:22PM
Location: New Wilmington, PA
Posts: 554

I don't know if its intentional fraud, but the company certainly does have lofty goals, no pun intended. I would be very interested in attempting such a project, but only AFTER the company proves its worth by launching its first set of satellites.

-Dave

Chris Russell

Mon Nov 02 2009, 01:58AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Interesting! It's quite fun to entertain the notion of launching our own satellite into orbit, but I tend to agree that it would be wise to wait for a successful launch before making any serious plans. It's also worth noting that the sats have an orbital lifespan of three weeks to three months. With solar weather predicted to be on the rise any month now, it's likely that a 4hvsat launched in a few years would have an orbital lifespan much closer to the three week mark.

If we might entertain the thought, though, just for fun, what sorts of equipment would people like to see on board? I'm sure the hams here would like to see a linear transponder. I wouldn't mind seeing a packet/ARPS digipeater on board. A telemetry/message beacon would be nice, too. What else? Geiger counter? First Tesla coil in space? Sky's the limit... or rather, it isn't.

rp181

Mon Nov 02 2009, 02:01AM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529

perhaps put on a plasma thruster, and navigation equipment?
It would also be interesting to put a piece of aerogel like the stardust mission, and somehow analyze the particles.

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