Royal Gunpowder Mills' Rocket & Space Day

The Royal Gunpowder Mills have kindly requested a set of volunteers for their “Rocket and Space” event (see webpage) happening on the 10th & 11th of July.

The role will include aiding in the launch of rockets and general assistance in making the day fun and enjoyable for all.  Free entrance & camping is available for all volunteers and moreover it guarantees to be highly enjoyable!

If you would like to help out or would like further information, get in touch (web contact form).  The event is quite soon, so make yourself known as soon as possible! Discussion on this event can be found in the forum (see forum thread).

A big congratulation goes out to Ruth Pearson – the outgoing president of KCL’s Maxwell Society and a current UKSEDS member – on securing one of the newly founded UK Space Agency scholarships for the International Space University’s Space Studies Program (ISU SSP). We hope this is the first of many scholarships to come, and wish Ruth the very best over the next few weeks in Strasbourg.

UKSEDS in collaboration with  MyPocketQub and Taunton and District Amateur Radio Society are offering the opportunity to partake in a 2 Day Crash Course in Amateur Radio with a focus on communicating with amateur satellites.

Registration closes Sunday 13th June, 5.00pm.

View the Poster or click read more for more information.

We are still looking to fill the numbers required for Farnborough.

Volunteers will gain free entry to the event for the 23rd, a T-shirt & something a bit special to put on their CV.

Have a look at the original post and then get in touch using the ukseds.org website contact form (link in top right hand corner of home page).

Heard of the band OK Go?  They did that video with the treadmills? [oh, yeah, that one]  Well, their latest has had the help of some of the staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in its production.  See the video and an interview with the engineers here.

Also, you can have a go at building a machine like the one in the video.  The best machines win OK Go concert tickets!  The next UK dates for the band are near the end of July – good luck!

The momentum building within the UK Space Sector following the launch of the new UK Space Agency in march looks set to continue. The new science minster, David Willetts,  has stated his enthusiasm for the Space Industry, which is good news for all of us!

Coalition wants UK space lift-off

The new science minister David Willetts says space is an important growth sector for the UK economy and he intends to do all he can to support it.

“I believe in the space industry,” he told BBC News. “Britain has a comparative advantage and we will carry on backing space.”

Read more at the BBC

Remember, you can work alongside the new UKSA by volunteering to help out at  Farnborough with UKSEDS. The perfect opportunity to get to know the future big player in the UK Space Sector.

The myPocketQub project

That’s right, we’re building a satellite, and it’s one of the smallest ever to be flown at 5×5x5cm.  It’s called the PocketQub and we have a launch lined up for October – that’s right, this October!

We are working hard to finalise the specification but in the next 4 months we need YOU, the UKSEDS faithful, to help us out.  We need small groups of volunteers from across the UK to help develop the hardware and software we need to fly our satellite.  Here’s the lowdown; a PocketQub is:

• 5×5x5cm
• 125g
• Carries a radio which we hope will be allowed to use amateur radio frequencies
• Uses Arduino microprocessors for both on-board computing and to run student-built projects
• Will carry additional payloads, including a camera

We need volunteers to work with the UKSEDS committee over the summer to build, test and integrate the hardware, and build all of the software we will need to run the spacecraft.  Tasks will be available in the following areas:

• On-Board Computer – monitoring the spacecraft status, data transfer to and from the radio, control of the payload computer
• Payload – A CMOS camera and dedicated payload computer based on the Arduino microprocessor to run student-built projects
• Peripherals and sensors – thermal sensors and large-scale memory storage (using microSD cards)
• PCB development – Layout, population and testing of the circuit boards supporting the components
• Radio – integration with the Arduino OBC

So, hopefully that has piqued your interest!  Now you’ll want to know how you can get involved!  Firstly, don’t worry if you have exams and coursework deadlines at the moment – we’ve all been there or are there ourselves right now – we still want to hear from you though, so send us an email to committee@ukseds.org as soon as possible, let us know

• What university or school you are at
• What year you are in
• Any technical skills you have

And we’ll be in touch in the coming weeks!

[Update] We’re on twitter!