2012-04-03
post/20430297649
photo 23:28:12
Australis Oscar V, an amateur radio satellite. Alice Gorman, Saving space junk, our cultural heritage in orbit:
Space heritage isn’t all about the superpowers, though. In 1970, a small striped box representing the ambitions and dreams of a bunch of Melbourne University students was launched into low-earth orbit, piggybacked on a NASA rocket.
The students had designed the satellite – dubbed Australis Oscar V – and constructed it from begged, borrowed and scrounged components. They then coordinated amateur radio enthusiasts across the world to collect data from the satellite. Australis Oscar V transmitted data for six epic weeks until its batteries died.
