Timeline for What is the smallest operational artificial satellite?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 27, 2019 at 0:24 | comment | added | Vikki | That reminds me of some of my relay-sat deployers in KSP! | |
| May 16, 2017 at 13:04 | vote | accept | gerrit | ||
| May 16, 2017 at 13:02 | comment | added | gerrit | Any update on this? | |
| Apr 23, 2014 at 8:08 | comment | added | SAnderka | Sorry, I wasn't criticizing your answer at all, I just don't understand how this can be a good idea (but I am a layman after all). The Kickstarter page really sells this as "everybodys space program", so we could see not a few, but lots of these in orbit (who is going to launch these, btw?). And if even a stray flake of paint can cause harm, then what about some of these sprites in an accidentally uncontrolled orbit? Isn't it a terrible idea to risk the ISS or satellites just to allow "everybody" to launch a bit of (possibly short lived) consumer electronics into space? | |
| Apr 22, 2014 at 13:19 | comment | added | TildalWave | @SAnderka I don't understand your point. First, your question is misplaced because I'm not some KickSat evangelist, I'm just answering the question. Second, these are not debris but functional devices. Third, they lack ative propulsion and their orbit will naturally decay fast enough via atmospheric drag and lack of momentum (small mass, relatively large cross-sectional area). Their orbit will be well known, can be easily tracked, and have small relative Δv to anything else in LEO. The whole Sprites concept also isn't new. | |
| Apr 22, 2014 at 7:25 | comment | added | SAnderka | From the Github page: "making it easy enough and affordable enough for anyone to explore space" - how is putting debris in earth orbit space exploration?! Can someone explain me the point of all this, besides "because we can and it's cool"? | |
| Apr 21, 2014 at 21:20 | history | edited | TildalWave | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 19, 2014 at 13:06 | comment | added | Zoltán Schmidt | @TildalWave Oh, yes, I can remember now. I feel myself so outdated now... | |
| Apr 19, 2014 at 11:30 | comment | added | TildalWave | @ZoltánSchmidt They can, and you probably have some in your smartphone, gaming controller,... And they're getting even smaller, for example this STMicro A3G4250D (PDF) can already be bought and is 4x4x1.1 mm in size, packaged as 16-pin LGA and has all three axis angular sensors. There are some even smaller ones coming out soon, e.g. L2G2IS 2-axis MEMS gyro at 2.3x2.3x0.7 mm. | |
| Apr 19, 2014 at 11:07 | comment | added | Zoltán Schmidt | I know that we live in the age of miniaturizing, but how on Earth can a gyroscope be that small??? | |
| Apr 18, 2014 at 21:45 | history | edited | TildalWave | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Sep 3, 2013 at 13:31 | comment | added | Tristan | This makes me twitchy, as I do orbital debris work for the ISS for a living. These things are exactly the right size to cause maximum damage -- too small to track, too big to defend against. | |
| Sep 3, 2013 at 0:54 | history | answered | TildalWave | CC BY-SA 3.0 |