Mustang Cadet Squadron – RMR-CO-148

Here is something that would be fun to either watch for or listen for.

FITSAT-1 is a 10cm x10cm x10cm cubesat that was developed and built by students at a Japanese university. It was sent to the ISS and recently deployed.

One panel is loaded with LEDs. The LEDs are periodically turned on to flash a message in Morse Code. Even if you don’t know code, it would be fun to try and acquire the bird with the naked eye.

W.E. ACEVES II, Lt Col, CAP
Commander, Group 1
Asst AEO, Group 1

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This link (www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml) says: 18 Dec. 05:28:30 – 05:32:30 (UTC) Central-South USA (Morse, Green)

That will be around 22:27 on Dec 17 in Denver.

Update: This site has details and tracking information: www.n2yo.com/passes/?s=38853

You will need to click on the button to “Show all passes” and then the Details button for the entry of 12/17 22:22. Don’t worry about it being ‘eclipsed’ since you will be viewing the satellite’s LEDs and not the reflection of the sun off of the satellite. FITSAT-1 will pass from the NW to the SE and pass almost directly overhead.

An interview, video and pictures of Chuck Yeager are available on USAToday.com: http://usat.ly/TJQv2M

You can have NASA send you a text message whenever the International Space Station passes overhead. You can read more about this service in this Ars Technica article.

NASA Spot The Station Site

From the Red Bull Stratos site:

After reaching an altitude of 128,100 feet (39,045 meters) in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed a record breaking jump from the edge of space, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket powered airplane. The 43-year-old Austrian skydiving expert also broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight), leaving the longest freefall to project mentor Col. Joe Kittinger.

Also check out the tech behind the jump at ExtremeTech.

From the Seattle Times:

Sixty-five years after becoming the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager flew in the back seat Sunday of an F-15 Eagle as it broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet above California’s Mojave Desert.

The Seattle Times has a story about Don Bateman, who invented the “ground-proximity-warning-system” technology used on airplanes. His invention has reduced controlled flight into terrain crashes by 99.9% for commercial aircraft. From the article:

The technology eliminated the “No. 1 killer in aviation for decades,” said Bill Voss, chief executive of the Flight Safety Foundation. “It’s accepted within the industry that Don Bateman has probably saved more lives than any single person in the history of aviation.”

Redmond aviation engineer’s lifelong work has saved thousands of lives