But things are changing. High costs, unusual educational requirements and long start-up times are no longer an obstacle to space exploration. The scientists at Stanford University have developed a new type of tiny inexpensive earth-orbiting satellites that go from ideas to launch (发射)in a year.
So far, college student have built and launched several cube-shaped satellites, or CubeSats. At least 15 more are ready to go. Those already in orbit (轨道)take pictures, collect information and send it back to the earth, just as regular satellites do.
But you might not even have to wait until you get to college to start designing and building your own satellite. A new program called KatySat aims to get teenagers to take part. Once kids understand what satellites can do, says Ben Yuan, an engineer at Lockheed Martin in Menlo Park, Calif, the kinds of applications theyll come up with may be countless.
Wed like to put this technology(技术)in your hands, he tells kids. Were going to teach you how to operate a satellite. Then we want to turn it over to you as a sandbox for you to play in. We want you to take the technology into new directions that we havent thought of yet.
Education isnt the only goal of CubeSats. Because these tiny, technology-filled boxes are relatively inexpensive to build and can be put together quickly, theyre perfect for testing new technologies that might one day be used on major space tasks.
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