DIY Space: Google’s LEGO Moonbot Challenge

The deadline for registration is closing in for people, age 9 through 17, interested in building “moonbots” for Google’s Lunar XPrize Lego Mindstorms Challenge. The final day for initial registration is 15 May at 11.59.59PM PST. The challenge has two phases. The first is fairly simple, requiring a team video that answers the question “Why should we […]

Space, Transparency, and MH370

The Atlantic’s Ari Schulman has a terrific explanation regarding Inmarsat’s analysis of the “pings” their geostationary satellite received from Malaysian Airlines flight 370. Of more interest, the article also talks about why Inmarsat’s analysis may be incorrect. There are some puzzling problems with the data Inmarsat produced. The “ping” doppler values appear to be positive, […]

Other People’s Money–How the DoD Spends Yours On Space

What you’re about to read are my opinions, based on experiences with government, both as the government military and as a contractor. I am also taking the history of DoD space acquisitions, including relevant Government Accountability Office reports, into account to inform my opinion. My contention is: whatever the Department of Defense is saying they’re planning with […]

A SmallSat/MicroSat Drama Unfolding Above The Earth

It seems there’s a potential setback for the Maker satellite movement above our heads: the Kicksat cube satellite is experiencing difficulties. According to a May 3 update on Kicksat’s website, the Kicksat’s watchdog timer experienced a hard reset. The watchdog timer is a sort of failsafe all satellites have on-board. It’s meant to protect the spacecraft […]

Why Space Matters: HEO Satellite Operations, Part 2–Those Pesky Overcharges

Satellite highly elliptical orbits (HEOs) are interesting orbits for space operators in any kind of mission, especially considering the challenges inherent in using such orbits. OK–so that statement’s a little nerdy, but if you’re reading this blog, there’s an inner nerd in you just waiting to be outed. In the last lesson, you were, perhaps […]