Despite the scuttling of the space shuttle program, Auburn’s dominion over the stars will continue.
On October 25, the first in a series of satellites built by students in the Auburn University Student Space Program will be launched into orbit from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base. AubieSat-1, a 4-inch cube-shaped satellite, will hitch a ride to space aboard a Delta II rocket alongside four other student-built satellites from Utah State, Montana State and Michigan. The purpose? To test the efficiency of solar panels operating in the harsh environment of space.
And to say “War Eagle.”
“Essentially, 51 minutes after it [AubieSat-1] deploys from the rocket it will start transmitting its beacon,” says Auburn student Ian Locklar, who has been in charge of the student satellite project over the summer. “When it comes over Auburn and we hear it transmitting, we can send up a [Morse code] command and the command is to tell us ‘are you alive?’ And if it is, then it will transmit ‘War Eagle.’ That’s how we’ll know it’s alive.”
Best War Eagle Moment ever.
h/ t Matthew Harrell. Photo via.
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Michigan has eight astronauts.
Auburn has six, a current and former flight director, and students beeping us from orbit.
Eagles soar. Wolverines have a range of about 240 square miles.
But, still, that’s a pretty cool commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX4Sp0OsY-w
Damn. You guys are just everywhere.