Next week Orbital Sciences is scheduled to launch a new satellite that has been designed and built by high school students.
The satellite is based on the open source CubeSat design, which has been used for a number of applications in space. In this case, the TJCubeSat is equpped with a voice synthesizer that can receive text bursts, convert them to spoken voice, and then transmit that voice. Students from all over the world will be able to use the satellite in this manner.
"This partnership between our school and Orbital has allowed the students to gain valuable real-world experience in aerospace engineering and related disciplines, which will serve them well as they continue on their future careers," Dr. Evan Glazer, Principal of Thomas Jefferson High School, said in a press release.
This isn't the first time that high school students have sent experiments into space. For example, many high schools are customers of Nanoracks, which provides standardized labs that can be used for experiments on board the International Space Station. However, this is one of the first times an actual satellite built by high school students has been launched into space.
The satellite is one of several secondary payloads aboard one of Orbital Sciences' Minotaur I rockets. The launch will be the 11th Minotaur I launch, and the 25th in the Minotaur series of rockets. The Minotaur I rocket is actually derived from converted Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles that had been previously decommissioned.
The primary payload of the launch is the Air Force's STPSat-3 satellite. The STPSat-3 is part of an experimental Defense Department initiative to more quickly build and launch satellites. This particular satellite was built by Ball Aerospace in only 47 days. The focus of the satellite is to deliver payloads that will study the ionosphere, solar irradiances, and plasma energies.
The launch is currently scheduled for Tuesday, November 19 at 7:30 pm ET from NASA's Wallops facility in Virginia.
