Morehead —
Morehead State University space scientists have established radio contact with a satellite launched in mid-September and are gearing up to assist with experiments launched on the satellite, according to an announcement from the university.
The satellite, about the size of a loaf of bread, was built at Morehead State, and once experimental operations begin, the mission will represent the first launch and deployment of a satellite built entirely in Kentucky.
Called the Cosmic X-Ray Background Nanosatellite, its job is precision measurement of rays emanating from the explosive birth of the universe nearly 14 billion years ago.
The measurements will lend insight into the underlying physics of the early universe.
The satellite was launched Sept. 13 along with other satellites on a U.S. Department of Defense rocket and is expected to remain in orbit for about 10 years.
The radio signal detected at MSU includes information about the health of the satellite and the status of its subsystems, proving it is alive and well.
The MSU team will spend the next few weeks assessing the state of the satellite’s systems; then will start the systems that control the experiments on board.
Students and faculty at MSU’s Space Science Center and its partners designed, built, tested and delivered the satellite to NASA in one year.
The tiny satellite is an example of a CubeSat, a format invented by MSU professor Bob Twiggs in 2004. The successful mission will serve as proof that CubeSats are highly effective at performing a wide variety of satellite functions.
The satellite is operated primarily by MSU undergraduates wil also will work with the scientific data it produces.
Partnering on the project were MSU, Kentucky Space LLC, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Noqsi Aerospace, Black Forest Engineering and Little H-Bar ranch.
Dr. Ben Malphrus, chair of MSU’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences; serves as principal investigator on the project and led the team to completion and delivery of the satellite on the extremely compressed one-year timeline.
MSU’s Kevin Brown, assistant professor of space science, and Tyler Rose, student engineering team leader, led a team of engineers and scientists at the Space Science Center in designing, building and testing the satellite.
Kentucky Space and its partners, since its inception in 2007, have flown experiments on two space shuttle flights, developed the first CubeLabs on the International Space Station, and launched a CubeSat, KySat-1 in 2010. That launch was unsuccessful when the rocket failed.
Local News
MSU scientists make contact with satellite
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