One and a Half Men:
First let’s ensure that you know who we are. WotzUp is courtesy of “One and a Half Men” – a father and son team of space, science and technology explorers – yes, we are learning as we go! Robert and Jason Brand (Jason is 10 at time of publication) are both experienced amateur radio operators (Robert: VK2URB and Jason: VK2FJAB), weather balloon experimenters (to 26km – 1/4 the way to space), and crazy about DIY Space (Do-It-Yourself Space). Robert has created an aerospace company and is working towards building a Deep Space Network of dishes to communicate with long mission spacecraft traveling to the moon or the planets. Robert has also been asked to take part in a mainstream robotic mission to another planet in 2022 – still waiting for the necessary green light.
The picture at right: Jason (9) and Robert (? – not telling!) celebrating the success of their first weather balloon mission in 2011. Following the recovery of “UpLift 1″ they raised a toast in thanks to the worldwide team watching via Facebook. An ice cold ginger ale! (Non Alcoholic).
Ardusat Project:
Ardusat embodies all that we hold dear to the cause of making space “everyday” for everyday people. We have been brought on-board this mission to bring our knowledge to the team and to esp
ecially work with the amateur radio community to create the up and down links needed for this enterprise. Jason will also liaise with schools around the world.
These pages are published with permission of the Ardusat team and are copyright 2012
Bigger is Better!
UPDATE: New target is a double sized ArduSat with better camera and sensors for $ 75,000 or even two singles sized Ardusats for Satellite-to-Satellite communication experiments. So join us now!
Ardusat Funding
At the time of printing we are in the funding stage and need help. Kickstarter has way more information about Ardusat. This is a teaser page. Click on the Kickstarter images to read more and help with a few dollars (or more)
By supporting the project you’re not only reserving your place at a discounted price at the front of the line to use it once it’s in space, but you’re helping us develop a platform to make space access affordable and achievable for anyone.
What you can do with ArduSat
To get your creative cogs turning, here are just a few of the ideas the ArduSat developers are cooking up. For even more application challenges and some ideas for high school and university student projects, check out our Ideas page and get commenting! http://tinyurl.com/ArduSatAppIdeas
SCIENCE: Meteor Hunter – Small meteors that strike the atmosphere every day created trails of ionized gas in the atmosphere in the upper atmosphere. Write an experiment to try and detect meteor impacts, by listening for radio stations beyond the horizon, reflected by the meteor trails!
ENGINEERING: Your Eye in the Sky - Try writing an app that would synchronize the output of a head mounted-gyro to the steering system on the satellite. If you’re feeling really ambitious, try downlinking the attitude vector in real-time to watch the satellite follow your head – you could even tie-in your head-steering to our program that takes pictures! (Talk to Joel if you’re interested in this experiment!)
ENGINEERING: Point-and-shoot - The following settings can be set on the camera: “exposure, gamma, gain, white balance, color matrix, windowing”. Try designing an algorithm that fine-tunes the settings to take even better pictures or more artistic pictures!
ENTERTAINMENT: Geiger Counter Bingo - Write an app that transmits a message with a random number and letter every time a particle hits the satellite with enough energy. Have a ‘bingo from space’ game between HAM radio amateurs.
ENTERTAINMENT: Photography Competition – See who among your friends can snap the coolest/most interesting picture from space. The eye of a hurricane, sunrise over the Indian ocean, even aurora from space – see what marvels you can capture!
Take Pictures from Space
The satellite is not just for scientific purposes; ambitious photographers and artists will be able to steer the satellite cameras take pictures on-demand of the Earth, the Moon, or the stars. Especially from the Artist community we expect to see some spectacular private space pictures so we all can marvel at the beauty of Earth from above.
How it Works
Click on the image below for more details and ways to make this all possible:
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