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Mars One to send unmanned probe to Mars, broadcast mission live on earth in 2018
Sending humans to Mars is a multi-step process, and today, the Mars One project -- you know, the folks who aim to colonize the Red Planet and fund the mission, in part, by televising the whole thing -- has outlined its plans for a preliminary mission to check things out before shooting folks into space. It's partnered up with long time aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin and European satellite firm SSTL to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2018. Lockheed will provide a mission concept study to update its Phoenix lander that went to the fourth rock from the sun back in 2008, while SSTL is going to figure out how to build a communications relay satellite system capable of sending live broadcasts of the probe's doings back to earth. The lander will be equipped to test out technologies needed to make human settlement possible, but part of its mission is currently undefined. You see, Mars One is going to hold a contest next year, soliciting ideas from university and school-age students as to what types of other activities the probe should perform. Additionally, the plan is for the public to help direct the lander, too -- those who back the Mars One project on Indiegogo will get to vote on some mission decisions down the line. Oh, and if you were planning to be among the first wave of settlers when the manned missions start, you'll have to wait an extra two years, as that launch date's been pushed back to 2025.
Nexus One launched into space on CubeSat, becomes first PhoneSat in orbit (video)
Google's Nexus One has dreamt of space travel for a while now, but on Monday it was finally launched into orbit aboard a CubeSat dubbed STRaND-1, which was developed by Surrey Satellite Technology and the University of Surrey's Surrey Space Centre. STRaND-1 now holds the honor of being the first PhoneSat and UK CubeSat that has made it into orbit. Alongside the HTC-made handset are an altitude and orbit control system, two propulsion setups and a Linux-based computer with a "high-speed" processor. After the Tux-friendly rig conducts a battery of tests, it'll relinquish control of much of the satellite's functions to the smartphone, which still runs Android. Not only will the mission test how commercial, off-the-shelf tech can survive in the vacuum and conduct experiments, but it'll squeeze in some fun courtesy of apps developed by winners of a competition held last year. An app called 360 will let folks back on terra firma request their own snapshots of earth taken with the phone's shooter and pin them to a map. Ridley Scott might like to say no one can hear you scream in space, but another application loaded onto the device will put that to the test by playing user-submitted shrieks and recording them with the handset's microphone as they playback. Hit the break for more details and a brief video overview of the satellite, or jab the more coverage links to partake in the app shenanigans.
SSTL designs cheap radar satellite, UK government kicks in £21 million to build it
While we have an innate fear of the eye in the sky (and the role it'll play in the coming robot apocalypse), there's no doubt that observation satellites do a lot of good -- from recording weather and climate changes to helping coordinate relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters. Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has plans to beef up planetary monitoring capabilities with its new NovaSAR satellite, and the company just received £21 million from the UK government to make it happen. NovaSAR works using synthetic aperture radar, so it can see through clouds (unlike optical satellites) and offers its services for £45 million -- or 20 percent of the cost of existing space radar platforms. With governmental funding in hand, SSTL can begin to develop and build its first such satellite, and the plan is to put it in orbit in two or three years. If NovaSAR does what it's been designed to do, SSTL hopes it can sell and launch enough of them so that any place on earth can be under its gaze in less than 24 hours. We're all for improving disaster relief efforts, but if you spy these sats overhead on a clear night, we recommend keeping an ear to the ground in case they're guiding an army of Alpha Dogs your way.
SSTL using Android handsets to control satellites, conquer the final frontier
First, the Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation tested a Nexus One's ability to deal with the stress of a rocket launch. Then, Google floated seven Nexi to the edge of space to see if the phones could cope with the void. Now, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is looking to launch a satellite into orbit and use a 'droid -- much smaller than the Astromech variety -- to control said satellite. SSTL, who is helping build Galileo (and is acutely aware of its cost, no doubt), views smartphones as a way to democratize access to space because they are far less expensive than purpose-built control systems. The company hasn't said which handset will be used in the satellite, but they chose Android because it allows engineers to easily modify the phone to do their bidding -- from controlling pulse plasma thrusters to handling the advanced guidance and navigation systems of the foot long satellite. Additionally, the open source OS means that they "could get people to develop apps" for the satellite. We've seen plenty of Android apps, but we're really hoping this venture is successful so we get to see apps... in space. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
