In January of 2020, IBM picked to build on its lots of years of working with the space sector by introducing its own industrial area endeavor known as IBM Space Tech. In early 2022, IBM Space Tech will be releasing its first CubeSat space mission, named ENDURANCE, to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The objective lead for ENDURANCE is Naeem Altaf, the Chief Technical Officer of IBM Space Tech and a space market veteran. After many years of working with area agencies (like NASA and the ESA) and the commercial area sector, Naeem is well-acquainted with the challenges of getting access to area. Hoping to change that paradigm, Naeem and his colleagues at IBM Space Tech started looking for ways to simplify the procedure for acquiring access to area.
In between the increase of the commercial space industry and the proliferation of firms and programs, it is clear that we reside in a new space age. A foundation of this brand-new age is how reusable rockets, small satellite innovation, and other advances are minimizing the cost of introducing payloads to orbit. This, in turn, increases access to area and enables more individuals and organizations to participate in profitable research.
In January of 2020, IBM selected to develop on its numerous years of working with the area sector by releasing its own industrial area endeavor called IBM Space Tech. In early 2022, IBM Space Tech will be introducing its first CubeSat area mission, named ENDURANCE, to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). By leveraging IBM/Red Hat software application and the IBM Cloud, this CubeSat will offer trainees all over the world access to space!
The objective lead for ENDURANCE is Naeem Altaf, the Chief Technical Officer of IBM Space Tech and an area industry veteran. After numerous years of dealing with space firms (like NASA and the ESA) and the industrial area sector, Naeem is well-acquainted with the difficulties of accessing to area. Considering that this all took place in the industrialized world, Naeem was worried about just how much more difficult it should be for individuals in the establishing world.
Artists impression of The ENDURANCE CubeSat. Credit: Endurance In Space
This has been the trend since the start of the Space Age, where just space companies, established countries, and the super-wealthy have actually delighted in gain access to. Hoping to alter that paradigm, Naeem and his associates at IBM Space Tech began looking for ways to enhance the procedure for acquiring access to space.
The outcome of this was ENDURANCE, a program that combines IBMs Edge Computing in Space (powered by IBM/Red Hat MicroShift project) and CubeSat innovation by Bulgarian satellite company EnduroSat. By leveraging this innovation and competence, ENDURANCE will enable students to interact straight with little satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). As Naeem described to Universe Today via e-mail:
” The ENDURANCE CubeSat objective is about making space available to everyone on this world. In other words, Democratizing Access to Space. Our vision and goal for this mission were simple: How can we streamline the procedure for getting school-aged children to access to the marvels of space– in order to motivate the next generation of future area explorers and leaders.”
As soon as functional, children from the most remote, rural locations in any part of the world (individually or as part of a class) can write code in Python language, then submit it to the ENDURANCE Portal on IBM Cloud. After the automatic system scans the code to guarantee there is no trace of anything destructive, the code will be sent out to a ground station and published to the satellite on the next pass.
” Users will be able to access the portal on IBM Cloud to send their code. As soon as the code is confirmed, it will get pressed to the CubeSat. It will go and carry out the program. The results will get pressed to the ground station and then on to IBM Cloud, and we will inform users about their outcomes.”
This view of Earths horizon was taken by an Expedition 7 crewmember onboard the International Space Station, using a wide-angle lens while the Station was over the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA
By developing their own code, users will have the ability to perform a variety of operations and get the outcomes back via ground stations and the IBM Cloud. This includes acquiring information from the satellites magnetometer, Sun sensing units, or the satellites voltage, temperature level, and other telemetry information. According to Naeem, the most popular operation is most likely to be the capability to take pictures using the CubeSats cam.
Generally, kids will be able to arrange image records for when the satellite passes over a particular part of Earth. This will allow them to see what a Sunrise, Sunset, storms and weather condition patterns, or their town or the backwoods in which they live looks like from space. In addition, they will have the ability to see what forest fires, tropical storms, diminishing ice sheets, flooding, and shrinking shorelines appear like from space.
This is another element of the ENDURANCE objective, which is to raise awareness about international concerns like Climate Change and our worlds health. By seeing from Earth from area, trainees will have the ability to get a taste of the Overview Effect and see simply how connected everything on our world is. Looking ahead, Naeem and his associates intend to enhance the experience with the addition of lots of more features.
Some examples include Natural Language Processing (NLP), which would enable users to go engage with virtual assistants (like a chatbot) and make the most of speech-to-text/ text-to-speech software to facilitate communication with the satellite itself. This might consist of asking the satellite where it is over Earth– “Hey, ENDURANCE! Where are you now?” “Hello! I am presently over South America taking pleasure in a view of the Andes.”
The ENDURANCE mission patch. Credit: Endurance in Space
” In the future, we can look towards building a metaverse for the CubeSat Operations center, create hackathons, and so on. Currently, P-TECH serves over 100 schools all around the world.
” Im happy to have this chance to help motivate a sense of inspiration, hope, confidence, and accomplishment in this more youthful generation of Space leaders,” Naeem added. “I believe experiencing Space in this way will be valuable for numerous trainees and kids and will open doors for development beyond our wildest creativity.”
Those interested in supporting the mission are encouraged to visit the ENDURANCE site and click the tab marked “JOIN MISSION.” In addition to getting a Boarding Pass and a Mission Patch (revealed above), those who join will also have their name sent out to area aboard the ENDURANCE CubeSat.
Additional Reading: Endurance in Space
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