DIY Space: Eyes On NASA

There are several great tools available online designed to educate the public about space discoveries. The best ones use data gathered by our space faring machines and help put it all into an understandable form. Which is why NASA has developed the “NASA’s Eyes” program. NASA’s Eyes is a program that can be used for […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 6–Eclipse

All that you touch, all that you see… Yep, you guessed it! We’re going to talk about another issue common to geostationary (GEO) satellites: the eclipse. This issue is almost opposite from the problem discussed in Part 5 of the GEO lesson series. Instead of being overpowered by the sun’s energy, the satellite can’t function […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 5–Lights & Music

During the last few lessons, the great advantages of satellites in a geostationary orbit (GEO) were espoused about ad nauseum. The characteristics of persistence in communications and observations are the direct benefits of using a satellite in GEO. Include the huge field of regard and simplified ground system requirements, and it’s really a no-brainer to […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 3–Revolution Earth

“Endless Distance, Wildlife and Stars, Blanket the Night…” The last lesson was about Field of View (FOV) and Field of Regard (FOR). It was intended to help with understanding the next few lessons regarding satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO). All mentions of GEO on this blog, unless otherwise stated, refer to a particular type of […]

Skybox: Youtube videos from space?

Skybox launched their satellite (with a few others) November 22. But they are beginning to get sample videos in from their SkySat-1 satellite out to the public. SkySat-1 is a sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) polar satellite going around the Earth around 450 Km (280 miles) from Earth’s surface. Skybox notes this satellite’s expected orbital […]