Cubesat 10x10x10cm 1kg Payload, Lets here it then... Options

[paxdan]

I'm sure many of you will be familar with the CubeSat project, in fact some of you may well have worked on one.

So lets hear it, what would you do with a 10x10x10cm 1kg payload in a CubeSat, beside the obvious like stick a camera in it and photograph your house.

Who knows, perhaps one day we may see the launch of the USF CubeSat

[djellison]

Within the 'scope' as it were of a cubesat, you dont have THAT tight a control on orientation, even with electro magnetic or gravity gradient stability control. It might be worth checking out previously actively stabalised sats to see how much pointing accuracy they could muster.

I think a sensible, modest Cubesat is a sensible precursor to anything more bold.

Every few days I get an email from Cutesat...

Hello! This is XI MAIL.

* Message from us
This picture was taken over Japan.

* Status of XI-IV
Remaining Battery Level : 49.8%
Charging Current : 0.0mA
Electricity Generated : 0.6W
Temperature(+X Panel) : 24.7deg
Temperature(-X Panel) : 24.7deg
Temperature(+Y Panel) : 24.7deg
Temperature(-Y Panel) : 21.2deg
Temperature(+Z Panel) : 23.3deg
Temperature(-Z Panel) : 18.4deg
Temperature(Battery) : 21.9deg
Temperature(Transmitter) : 21.9deg

and the attached image was todays image

A 1024 x 1024 CCD camera - which could be commanded to take images as close to a given Lat/Long as possible would make an excellent resource and a superb outreach project - and as a second string, perhaps fly on one of the 6 sides - some prorotype solar cells as an engineering project.

iirc - baisc cube-sat kits are around $10k ish.
http://www.cubesatkit.com
http://cubesat.arizona.edu/rincon_sat/structures/cad.cgi
http://littonlab.atl.calpoly.edu/
http://www-ee.eng.hawaii.edu/~cubesat/



I'll tell you what genuine contribution I can make....pretty 3d pictures of a cubesat in 3ds max

doug

Attached image(s)