PongSats are high-altitude "near-space" missions that hold a probe or other project that can fit inside a ping-pong (table tennis) ball. The launch program is run by a volunteer organization, JP Aerospace (which also provided balloon launch services for the Space Chair.)
JP Aerospace succeeded in its first launch of PongSat missions, with a balloon-launched rocket (AKA a rockoon), at the West Texas Spaceport near Fort Stockton, in October 2002. The launcher reached 100,000 feet with 64 hosted PongSats.[1]
Many of the flights have been funded through a KickStarter crowdfunding campaign.[2] Although many PongSats contain things like food items, simply because schoolchildren are curious about the result, other missions include "multiple sensors and complex mini-computers".[3] It's been described by its founder as part of "America's Other Space Program," but also as one that relies "primarily on volunteers and helium."[4] SpaceHub Southeast has organized several PongSat flights from Atlanta.[5]
According to founder John Powell, the PongSat launch program is very global, with payloads delivered to JP Aerospace from "Poland, India, Japan, Slovenia, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, China, Australia, Indonesia."[6]
References
edit- ^ "Space Balls", Popular Mechanics, April 2003 [1]
- ^ Hurst, Nathan (2012-07-30). "Send Anything to the Edge of Space, for Free". Wired. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ Kessler, Sarah (2018-08-01). "8 Space Experiments That Fit In A Ping-Pong Ball". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ "Flight of the PongSats". Air & Space. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ TopSpacer (2013-02-25). "Students of Space Hub Southeast fly PongSats". Space-for-All at HobbySpace. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ David, Leonard (2012-09-14). "Ping-Pong Ball 'Satellites' Have Balloon Ride to Edge of Space". Scientific American. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
External links
edit- Official website
- Pongsat Guide
- Kelley, Debbie (2019-08-05). "Science experiment gives Colorado Springs students a unique lesson". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- PongSats and MiniCubes (pdf) Presentation at UNSW ACSER Cubesat Innovation Workshop, 2017-04-19/20
- Weekly Space Hangout: December 16, 2020 – John Powell Tells Us About PongSats and Airship to Orbit
- "PongSats: The World's Space Program". Michael Molitch-Hou. Feb 20, 2013. 3dprintingindustry.com
- "PongSats take student science projects to new heights", Ben Coxworth, New Atlas. July 27, 2012
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