Playing a Leading Role in the Nanosat Revolution
Morehead State University - Space Science Center
Recent years have seen a revolution in the way satellites are built and sent into space, due to the development of smaller and smaller nano-satellites, dozens of which can be attached to a single launch. With some as small as a loaf of bread, these nanosatellites can do anything from performing complex computations to detecting water on the moon.
Providing a comprehensive suite of facilities to design and test these satellites, the Space Science Center at Morehead State University has been at the heart of this revolution. Through collaborations with NASA and the aerospace industry, Morehead State has emerged as an internationally recognised center of research and development, not only in nanosatellite technology, but also in astrophysics, mission operation, exomedicine - all while training the next generation of scientists and engineers for the aerospace industry.
Students at Morehead are playing a central role in all these areas, staffing mission control for their 21m antenna, building and testing satellites, and getting to meet and work alongside key industry researchers from NASA, JPL and many other organizations. Students are getting hands on with Lunar IceCube, designed to learn more about water on the moon, as well as playing a key part in Morehead's pilot role as part of NASA's Deep Space Network. As the nanosat revolution continues, students at Morehead have every chance of getting their work into space, and making a major impact there.