The original article was published in the June 2015 issue of Satellites and Networks
Author: Liu Jinjun
Can a spark of thought ignite space? What kind of miracle can a few pairs of small hands create? Can the "president" fly into space? How far can the mind go?
The satellite of high school students witnessed the miracle of space flight, deciphered the mystery of aerospace science, and opened up an imaginary space. When it soars in space, can you launch the passion of aerospace science, break through the boundaries of space dreams, and fly a magnificent and brilliant life?
July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. On this day, a great man of a generation, Thomas Jefferson, died. Thomas Jefferson was the founding father of the United States, the lead author of the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States, and one of the greatest presidents of the United States.
Jefferson was a brilliant statesman who pursued science and truth, promoted democracy, freedom, and equality for all, and lived a bright and upright life. He was also a great thinker, with a special emphasis on freedom of thought, encouraging innovation and invention, and opposing any practice that constrained freedom of thought. There is a Jefferson Presidential Memorial in Washington, D.C., with the most striking front of the Jefferson statue engraved: I promise God that I will always be hostile to all tyranny of human thought.
Freedom of thought blows like a spring breeze throughout the United States, laying the foundation for the prosperity and strength of the United States. In honor and respect, the famous Capitol Hill in the United States has a statue of President Jefferson's great man, and there are at least 16 middle schools named after Thomas Jefferson in the United States, and Thomas Jefferson Public High School in Alexandria, Virginia, is one of them.
This is an obscure, ordinary school that can no longer be ordinary. However, one of the characteristics of the school here is to let students develop in an all-round way, moving their eyes, mouths, hands, and more importantly, their brains. Teachers often say, "You can have poor grades, but you can't be without hobbies." "Jefferson High School encourages students to use their talents to solve a wide variety of problems to the best of their ability, stimulating synergy among students and allowing them to stay and surpass other students in their future college careers." Since 10 years ago, Jefferson High School has been in the top few places in the country, and has won consecutive competitions and achieved a lot of incredible success.
Jefferson High School faculty and students were pondering a question: How to make a splash? Some students said, "If you build a robot that thinks and loves to rap, you can win a gold medal in a scientific debate." Some students proposed: "Let's develop a wheelchair controlled by the mind and mind, so that the disabled can go all over the world." A little yellow haired girl said: "Why not build a satellite, that is the highest technology!" ”
Some teachers think: high school students build satellites, it is simply a fantasy! After visiting satellite experts, aerospace experts and technical assessments, it is feasible for high school students to build satellites. Satellite technology is developing in the direction of nano and popularization, and some college students in some schools have launched dozens of satellites, and high school students can still launch satellites as long as they work hard. Principal Evange Reiser excitedly announced, "Do it! Kill a bloody road on the road of science! Jefferson High School will make history! ”
In 2006, Jefferson High School students prepared to build the world's first high school satellite. The satellite program for high school students is developed in the way of aerospace engineering: first learn aerospace theory, then talk about aerospace technology, and then carry out aerospace engineering. The satellite project is broken down into subsystems and assigned to each group, each consisting of a mentor and several students, each responsible for developing a subsystem.
Those selected for the satellite program for high school students are not all excellent grades, but smart, hands-on students with golden ideas, who are selected as satellite designers. Over a seven-year period, about 50 high school students emerged from the sophomore student union to work together to research, design, and build a 1U cubesat. The satellite's components are procured on the market, with funding from a $30,000 donation from Orbital Science.
The CubeSat, developed by high school students, was named "Thomas Jefferson," the first satellite to be named after a U.S. president. It has a length of 0.1 meters, a width of 0.1 meters, a height of 0.11 meters, a weight of 0.89 kg, a maximum power of 1 watt for transmitters, an average of less than 3 watts of electricity generated by solar sail panels, a design life of 6 months, and an orbital life of about 2 to 4 years. Various flight software and codes, ambient temperature systems, power systems, solar sail panels, solar cells, etc. of the satellite have been tested and verified by the US Air Force. The "Thomas Jefferson" CubeSat is not big, but famous.
On September 16, 2011, Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, heard that high school students were working on satellites and came to Jefferson High School to watch the satellites made by high school students. Obama visited the school and saw in detail the students' masterpieces of technology: the Thomas Jefferson satellite, a mind-controlled wheelchair, a robot and a luminous buoy.
It is not easy to be president in the United States, and it is often ridiculed and ridiculed by the media and the people. Obama was the first African-American president in U.S. history. When he introduced the Immigration Reform Act to restrict Africans from entering the United States, someone posted a sign: "Obama expelled his parents!" People took a closer look and found that Obama had a fresh and handsome appearance, an Austrian accent, an unchanging shirt and tie, and especially the ever-changing smile, like a robot.
When Obama came to the robot, the robot suddenly appeared a video: "Oba President Ma, are you a robot?" Obama smirked, "Mr. Robot, I'm human." My smiles are all from the heart, but people say that my smiles are all pretended, like a robot. We are very similar in this regard. ”
The robot said: "Maybe you have noticed that robots are everywhere, doing all kinds of jobs. They work on the farm, are cleaning carpets, delivering us coffee, and even proctoring student exams. Or suddenly, a dancing robot comes up and invites you to dance. Mr. President, will you pay attention to her posture? Can you dance every step accurately? Obama craned his neck, pretended to pull down his face, and said, "I can't dance with beautiful women." First Lady Michelle was going to be jealous. ”
When he saw the Jefferson satellite, Oba President Ma scrutinized it over and over again with a divine eye, shrugged his shoulders and sighed: "It's unimaginable!" ”。 Obama asked, "Who launched the satellite?" The teacher replied: "Orbital Science is willing to launch satellites." ”
Obama called the Thomas Jefferson Cubesat the "President's" satellite. He asked, "Can the president" fly into space? The students answered: As long as the rocket launch is successful, the "president" satellite will certainly be no problem. He happily proposed: "Students, try harder to launch me into space." It's better to be a satellite than to be president! During the photo shoot, Obama asked his classmates to stand in the middle and showed that robot-like smile again.
At 11:10 a.m., Oba President Ma entered the school's gymnasium. There, he spoke passionately on "The Immense Importance of Invention and Patent Reform to Innovation and Long-Term Economic Growth in the United States." After his speech, he signed the U.S. Patent Act with a big stroke of the pen and became law. This is the largest and most comprehensive revision of the U.S. Patent Act in nearly 60 years, and has been hailed as a milestone event to encourage invention, protect innovation, and increase employment. The U.S. Patent Act will have a profound impact on the U.S. patent system for inventions.
Why did Oba President Ma sign such an important law at Jefferson High School? Because Jefferson High School's "Thomas Jefferson" satellite is a major invention in itself, an unprecedented innovation, a model of freedom of thought, and a feat of a group of children. Signing the U.S. Patent Act at Jefferson High School was significant and far-reaching.
On November 20, 2013, at the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport on Vallepus Island in Virginia on the east coast of the United States, a Human-Cow Monster-1 carrier rocket stood tall. The Man-Cow Monster-1 rocket is built by the American Orbital Science Company, with a height of 19.21 meters, a diameter of 1.67 meters and a weight of 36200 kg. It can send a 580 kg payload to a low Earth orbit with an orbital inclination of 28.5° at 185 km.
At 8:15:23, the "Man-Cow Monster-1" carrier rocket took off and sped away in a southeasterly direction. Within 10 minutes, the flight control center announced that the "Man-Cow Monster-1" rocket had sent 30 satellites into space, including the Thomas Jefferson CubeSate. The CubeSat, developed by high school students, finally went into space, becoming the world's first high school satellite.
After successful liftoff, the "Thomas Jefferson" satellite ran in a low orbit with an orbital altitude of 500 kilometers, an orbital inclination of 40.5°, and an orbital period of 89 minutes, transmitting basic telemetry data, such as voltage, temperature, and the state of cpu. Of particular interest is a speech synthesizer with an upstream frequency of 145.980 MHz and a downlink frequency of 437.320 MHz that can ascii encode text information into an analog speech signal.
The Human Cow Monster-1 carrier rocket is launched
In order to show innocent respect, Stephen Hawking, a world-famous scientist and professor at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom who tells the history of the development of the universe with his eyes, personally sent a text message. This text message is interesting. The London English issued by the speech synthesizer is: "Dear students, this is your holiday. The 'president' can also go to space. You can say it out loud: Some presidents say we're young,...... "It's a text message that's only half the content, it's very strange."
The good news is here again! Students around the world sent emails to Jefferson Middle School via speech synthesizers on satellites to celebrate the holidays and encouragement and to communicate with friends and family around the world. One day, a stranger sent a text message to the voice: "Who said you are young, but your kung fu is high!" —President Barack Obama".
The "Thomas Jefferson" CubeSat shocked the world. Its main goal is to serve as a resource and educational outreach tool, hoping to encourage other educational institutions to explore the wonders of space. The "Jefferson" CubeSat will serve as a model for primary and secondary education worldwide.
The tiny satellite soon transformed Jefferson High School. According to statistics, from 2007 to 2013, the US "News and World Report" named Jefferson High School the best public school in the United States. In 2014, Newsweek named Jefferson High School the "Top School in America" of the Year. Jefferson High School became the "Mecca" in the minds of high school students across the United States. Everyone wants to enter this campus, but unfortunately the school still only admits students nearby.
The usually elegant Headmaster Evange Reiser was also crazy like the teachers and students: "This is a feat that shook the world, thanks to the grace of the satellite." "Currently, the school is spending about $89 million on a major campus renovation, with plans to expand the campus by the end of 2016 during the rainy season.
How far can wisdom go? How far the mind goes, how far wisdom can go. Jefferson High School has made history and will forever be in the annals of space history.