[Orekit Users] SpriteOrbits + Google Earth

[Michael Turner <michael.eugene.turner@gmail.com>]

My team's efforts at the Tokyo International Space Apps Challenge won
an award. And we didn't even need to rig the demo very much. :-)

  http://tokyo.spaceappschallenge.org/

The not-yet-updated repo:

  https://github.com/ProjectPersephone/SpriteOrbits

Zac has said that there will be significant uncertainty about
KickSat's position until contact can be established. I hope the
relevant parameters can be determined in time for the release of the
Sprites. The efforts of ground station volunteers will undoubtedly be
key to orbital parameter acquisition, prior to release.

One of the Space Apps Challenge team members here is keenly interested
in making a Japan ground station. I've also had offers of help from a
company in Finland, and will be at Indonesia's Institut Teknologi
Bandung later in April, to talk about SpriteOrbits and ground station
efforts.

At the Space Apps Challenge event, our team proposed that KickSat
could do some real science, insofar as real Sprite orbits could be
determined and compared to what Orekit's idealized atmospheric drag
models predict. I hope that isn't an unrealistic hope. Such a goal is
very much in line with Mason Peck's original vision of Sprites as
far-upper atmosphere probes.

As long as I'm here: Zac has expressed disappointment about the state
of the Wikipedia article about KickSat

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KickSat

and as the lead author of that article, I regretfully agree. The
upcoming launch and mission will generate more attention (and more
vandalism), and the article lacks significant coverage of ground
station efforts. Please consider helping out on this. I'll try to get
the Japanese article updated.

Regards,
Michael Turner
Executive Director
Project Persephone
K-1 bldg 3F
7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
turner@projectpersephone.org
http://www.projectpersephone.org/

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry