Does the Universe Have a Purpose?

[Beyond]

Ah, it figures. Ann the teacher, with clock experience, sets us straight.
Well... at least i know that even a broken clock will be right twice a day.

[neufer]

"In space no one can hear you scream.">>

Has that theory actually been tested yet

[b][color=#0000FF]The STRaND-1 Smartphone Nanosatellite. Credit: Surry Satellite Technology [/color][/b]

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Here’s Your Chance to Scream in Space
by Nancy Atkinson on October 25, 2012

<<The first “Alien” movie was promoted with the celebrated tagline, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” But a group of students want to find out if this is really true, and they’re asking the public for help. Students from the University of Cambridge in the UK will be loading human screams onto a smartphone that will be launched on a nanosatellite. The screams will be played at maximum volume while the smartphone is in low Earth orbit, and at the same time as the phone will record the playback to test if it’s possible to capture the sound of screaming in space. They want the best screams possible, and so are inviting the public to submit their screams via YouTube video. Each video must be at most ten seconds long, and there will be ten winning screams which can be voted for by the public. Screams must be entered before midnight Nov. 4, 2012 [NOOOOOOO!]. The winning videos will be loaded onto the phone for launch.

“Obviously, we’re not expecting to get much back, there may be some buzzing, but this is more about getting young people interested in satellites and acoustics, perhaps encouraging them to consider future study in science or engineering” said Edward Cunningham, a physics undergraduate at Churchill College. What is actually being tested is verifying the capabilities of a smartphone to control a satellite in space. STRaND-1 project is touted as the “World’s first SmartPhone Nanosatellite.” The phone will run on Android’s open-source operating system, and a computer, built at the Surrey Space Centre, will test the vital statistics of the phone once in space. When all the tests are complete, the plan is to switch off the micro-computer and the smartphone will be used to operate parts of the satellite. At its lowest, the phone will orbit 400km above the Earth, roughly the same as the International Space Station. “We want to see if the phone works up there, and if it does, we want to see if the phone can control a satellite,” said Shaun Kenyon, the project manager at Surrey Satellite Technology. >>

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Indian Rocket Launches Swarm of International Mini Satellites
by Nancy Atkinson on February 25, 2013

<<A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) successfully launched from India today, sending seven different international satellites into orbit. Launch was at 7:31 a.m. EST (12:31 UTC) and on board were three Canadian-built spacecraft including a small asteroid-hunting satellite (weighing in at just 74 kg) called NEOSSat, other small satellites from the UK, Austria and Denmark and an India-France joint effort called SARAL, an Earth observation satellite, the primary payload for the launch.

NEOSSat (Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite)will track large asteroids that may come close to Earth and also track space debris in orbit. The suitcase-sized NEOSSat will orbit approximately 800 kilometers above the Earth, searching for objects that are difficult to spot using ground-based telescopes. Because of its location, NEOSSat will not be limited by the day-night cycle and will operate continuously. “NEOSSat will discover many asteroids much faster than can be done from the ground alone,” said Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary. “Its most exciting result, however, will probably be discovering new targets for exploration by both manned and unmanned space missions.”

SARAL will be monitoring climate on Earth; CanX-3 BRITE (BRIght Target Explorer) is billed as the smallest astronomical telescope looking for faint objects; Sapphire is a military satellite that will keep track of objects orbiting between 6,000 and 40,000 kilometers from Earth; TUGSat-1 BRITE from Austria will monitor changes in brightness in stars; AAUSat 3 from Denmark will moniter ship traffic on Earth’s oceans, and STRaND-1 is a nanosatellite carrying a smartphone, has unique “screaming in space” experiment.>>