Well... people who 'make' things are called 'geeks' aren't they??
Geek is a derogatory slang used to describe people who are weird and abnormal - geeks go about wasting time making strange things, instead of buying it of-the-shelf, so that they can spend the same time studying hard to score >98% !!
(Sorry- but this is exactly what someone said to me 2 days ago, when his son got interested in Satellite building, after reading this thread)
For your kind information our satellite is not off the shelf, right from the PCB to Structure every thing was designed and developed in house by us. we have even applied for Patent. except the power board which was procured.................
Thanks for the info on Tracking......
I don't see ANY more info regarding the STUDSAT anywhere. Somehow people ignore their responsibilities after something is done. The job is not complete after a launch and a few press briefs.
Sad, but why do our guys leave everything blank afterward .....
Just a thought, but does the giant solar flare EMF wave that hit earth this tuesday, in anyways, affect the studsat?
I sure can!!Originally Posted by lolman_returns
If you're worried by the Tuesday flare, wait till the 2012, the 11 year Solar peak, flares 'bomb' the earth !!!!
Studsat ( and other Picosats of its type ) have a bare minimum skin and EMI shielding- principally due to the stringent requirements of size. A 10cm cube surface area can intercept a substantial amount of EMR and develop sparks enough to trash the internal Electronics. It all depends on where the Satellite is at the time of strike. But , not many big satellites are affected simply because they have better skin shielding meant to keep off strong EMR strikes and prevent HT emfs entering the interior electronics.
The Proton 'bomb' can penetrate into the satellite shell material and induce electron sprays that flow over all the Electronic components . The induced currents are strong enough to 'arc' and physically damage components and PCB tracks. They can even flip memory locations from 0 to 1 and vice versa- actually re program the ROM/RAM.
The most vulnerable is the Solar panel. Anything that is Silicon will degrade drastically due to induced high voltage / high currents that damage by 'short circuit' or 'arcing'. In fact, a Satellites life-time is governed by the number of Solar flare CME bombings that it takes. The Solar cell degrades and the usefull life is reduced, in spite of the satellites installed with 25% more surface area of the solar panels for this very same reason. The Solar cells are the most monitored things and its life time is indicated by the telemetry signals received constantly by the Earth station.
A Solar flare will produce EM radiations from X-rays to Protons. These radiations can run up to several days from its origin. X-rays and Protons are the major constituents - strong enough to disrupt electrical grids on the Earth itself, as happened several times in the past. The major safety device for the reduced damage on earth is the Ionosphere- Magnetosphere combine that act like Faraday shields and deflect these massive EM radiations. This may not be possible with small Pico size satellites as they have absolutely NO EMR shields other than the Solar panel and underlying thin structural aluminium. Imagine- a spark may contain several 1000s of amperes of current at very high Potentials. Last years big flare of February was described as "60,000-mile-high wave of super-hot plasma and magnetism blazing across the sun’s surface at 560,000 mph ". This massive force can physically 'push' a samll satellite into the Earths atmosphere.
Low Earth Orbit satellites undergo Orbital decay due to the Earths atmospheric drag. The satellites are slowly losing their altitude and are attracted towards the Earth. At some point, they re-enter the atmosphere and vaporize. A Solar Storm heats the upper atmosphere. This temperature increases drag and the Orbit decay of the satellite will increase, bringing it closer to the Earths atmosphere hence reducing its time in Space.
A lot of satellites are damaged by these solar storms resulting in premature death. This also increases the chance of collision with all the man-made junk orbiting around there too.
Life is'nt all quiet and peaceful up there in Space !!
Last edited by docel; 08-14-2010 at 12:42 AM.
Thanks Doc,
That was depressing and informative at the same time :P
This thread is increasing my glossary by tenfolds !!
the achivement is an outcome of ones mind performance i say good luck to all studsat disigners
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