The remains of Google’s first satellite launch… HD Video: http://ift.tt/1jBLAC4
Shattered, and ensconced in lucite, she was a familiar sight because our RocketMavericks crew helped them accelerate their g-load testing by having an unscheduled ballistic return into the Black Rock Desert playa!
In the video, that’s me and my son digging our phat V-2 out of the crater in the background. The story starts with the intrepid team from NASA (now Planet Labs) who figured out that a stock Android Nexus phone can work just fine as a low-cost satellite — it has a better processor than many satellites, and decent multi-axis sensors and GPS. They vacuum and thermal tested it at Ames. For deployment from the ISS, it is mounted in a cubesat chassis with extra batteries and a yellow metal tape measure for an antenna.
More RocketMavericks photos from the Black Rock Desert: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/sets/72157600956531468
Leave a Reply