Спутник UVic MARMOTSat запущен для изучения влияния климата на ионосферу

Second UVic satellite launches to advance climate change research UVic satellite launches A Victoria-born satellite the size of a long shoebox is set to soar into the skies above California in the early hours of Tuesday to help improve climate change research and amateur radio communication. The small-but-mighty MARMOTSat is the second satellite designed by the University of Victoria’s Centre for Aerospace Research and Satellite Design Team to be launched into space. It’s to launch just past midnight on Tuesday from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, tucked inside a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with dozens of other satellites from different companies and universities. Blake Baldwin, a recent UVic graduate and electrical designer on the team, said launching the satellite with other similar ones is a “ride-share mission” that makes the reduced cost accessible for teams like theirs. Baldwin said the satellite was built with two main purposes. The first is that it will act as an open-source radio project, where amateur operators anywhere in the world can communicate with the satellite and use the software that runs it. Most of these teams already have the ground station needed to communicate with satellites, but the instrument itself is often the most expensive hurdle. He said the radio spectrum is a limited commodity mostly taken up by communications giants, so the ability to communicate with MARMOTSat will reduce the barrier to entry for other universities and clubs working on radio projects. Since the satellite will be positioned in the ionosphere, the charged layer of the Earth’s atmosphere responsible for radio communications, it will be in the perfect place to study that special layer to understand how climate change is affecting it. That’s the second mission of the MARMOTSat. Baldwin said climate scientists aren’t sure how the ionosphere is changing due to climate change, and information gathered from the satellite should help with that. The charged layer of the atmosphere can be affected by changes in the concentration and temperature of greenhouse gases, and the team hopes the satellite will provide data to better understand those effects. Baldwin was an undergraduate student member of the team when UVic’s first satellite, ORCASat, launched from Florida in 2022 and did an engineering co-op with the centre in 2023 before joining the team full-time last fall. He said the name came from a brainstorming session where they were trying to think of another local animal to dedicate the satellite to. They chose the Vancouver Island marmot because it’s endangered, but also because it’s an animal unique to the area and they wanted to show what a West Coast, Canadian team was capable of. The satellite was built in a clean room on the UVic campus, and a nearly-identical second model was built for engineering testing on the ground. Given the instrument’s size, the easiest way to transport it to the Canadian Space Agency headquarters near Montreal for testing is to bring it on the plane as carry-on luggage, Baldwin said. “I’m told it’s very interesting in airport security,” he said with a laugh. A third satellite mission is planned for 2027 and will focus on Arctic communication aimed at increasing connectivity in Canada’s north. For now, Baldwin is focused on Tuesday’s launch, and he’s set to fly to California to watch it take off from a SpaceX viewing area. The Kamloops-born man said he’s always been interested in space but never thought he would get to be a part of the industry like this. “I’m just waiting for it to sink in.” More BC News - Fire sparks concernWest Kelowna - 6:30 am - China warns of measuresUntied States - 6:21 am - Problem lettuce at Taco Bell United States - 6:15 am - Wildfire smoke is deadlyUnited States - 6:09 am - Beer sales are hopping United States - 5:13 am