AirSafe.com interviews Zac Manchester about the KickSat satellite

This interview with Zac Manchester of KickSat took place on 26 April 2014, just over a week after the KickSat satellite was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral.

The KickSat satellite carries over 100 miniaturized satellites called Sprites (including AirSafe.com's first satellite), and these will be deployed later in the mission.

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Sprite miniature satellite

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In the interview, Zac discusses the planning and development process for KickSat, the technology that made the miniaturized Sprite satellites possible, and the volunteer network of radio operators who will detect the signals from the Sprites once they deploy.

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Listen to the interview with KickSat's Zac Manchester

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The Sprites are set to deploy from the KickSat motherhship in early May 2014, and will began broadcasting radio signals that will be detected by one or more ground stations.

Sprite deployment process

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Related resources
KickSat launch on 18 April 2014
Subscribe to the AirSafe.com podcast on iTunes

Get involved with KickSat
KickSat project background
KickSat KickStarter page
Join the KickSat mailing list
Amateur radio information for receiving signals from KickSat
Source code for building a Sprite satellite

Updates on flight MH370, the Boston Marathon, and the AirSafe.com satellite

No sign yet of flight MH370
In spite of a massive search lasting over 45 days and stretching from space to the bottom of the ocean, no confirmed wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has yet been located or recovered. On April 24th, AirSafe.com's Dr. Todd Curtis was interviewed by KOMO radio of Seattle about the status of that search (3:21).

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Todd Curtis completes the Boston Marathon
The 2014 Boston Marathon took place on Monday April 21, 2014, with over 36,000 registered runners, including AirSafe.com's Dr. Todd Curtis, who completed the course in 4:47:06. This was his third Boston Marathon, and this year he ran with Team Brookline in support of the nonprofit Brookline Library Foundation of Brookline, Massachusetts.

He's asking for your support to complete his goal of getting $5,000 in donations. as of the day of the Marathon, he 95% there, and he hopes that you can put him over the top. The AirSafe.com Foundation is also supporting this effort, and 100% of all donations made before the end of April will go toward Todd's Marathon donation efforts.

How you can help
If you want to contribute to the AirSafe.com Foundation (a 501(c)(3) organization), to help support this effort, please so by the end of this month. As an added incentive, special contributors will receive the following:

• $250 - The first person to contribute at $250 will receive an autographed official bib that Todd wore during the Marathon.

• $500 - The first person to contribute $500 will receive Adidas 2014 Boston Marathon Supernova Tee (Men's XL) that was issued to all registered runners.

• $1500 - The first person to contribute $1500 will receive Todd's official 2014 Boston Marathon finisher's medal.

• $2000+ - The first person to contribute $2000 or more can choose to receive all three special incentives.

Remember, these special incentives are available on a first come, first served basis. Please donate to the AirSafe.com Foundation using the link below:

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Update on the AirSafe.com satellite
On Friday April 18th, the SpaceX CRS-3 vehicle successfully launched a number of payloads into orbit, including including one carrying AirSafe.com's first satellite.

The satellite is scheduled to be deployed at about 4:00 PM EDT (20:00 GMT) on May 4th, and will start the active portion of its mission soon thereafter. Please follow AirSafe.com on Twitter for satellite updates.

If you are interested in learning how you can set up a ground station to detect the signals from the satellites once they deploy, check out the KickSat Wiki, which is run by Zac Manchester, who created the KickSat project.

AirSafe.com successfully launches its first satellite

18 April 2014 - SpaceX mission (CRS-3), which successfully launched today, is headed to the International Space Station as its primary mission, and it is also carrying a number of secondary payloads, including one that is carrying AirSafe.com's first satellite.

About the satellite
One of the secondary payloads carries KickSat, which was developed in part by Cornell University Zac Manchester and funded through a campaign on KickStarter. Later in the flight, the KickSat will deploy a constellation of 104 small satellites called “Sprites” which are about 3.2-centimetre (1.26 in) square in size, and carry miniaturised solar cells, a gyroscope, magnetometer and a radio system for communication. The AirSafe.com satellite, once deployed, will broadcast a short five character message, "ASC96," which represents the site AirSafe.com, and its launch year, 1996.

Upcoming events In the next few days, the satellite, which is now inside the KickSat secondary payload, will be fully deployed and start broadcasting. When that happens, we will report on the success of that deployment, and on the success of the other deployed KickSats. At that time we will also reveal the official name of AirSafe.com's satellite, and how it will honor the aerospace pioneers who inspired it.

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Kickstarter video featuring Zac Manchester

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Related information
KickSat project background
Amateur radio information for receiving signals from KickSat