Want to buy a UFO hunting satellite? Crowdsourcing project aims to scour the skies with a swarm of $10,000 CubeSats
- Indiegogo campaign seeks to raise $50,000 to launch a low-orbit CubeSat
- The satellite will be equipped with a scintillation counter and NanoCam
- Counter will measure surrounding radiation, and camera takes 360 view
- The team aims to bring full disclosure on alien activity to individuals
Published: 19:58 GMT, 20 November 2015 | Updated: 23:52 GMT, 20 November 2015
A team of developers in Canada has come up with a way for ordinary people to track extraterrestrial encounters - with their own satellite.
Their device, called the CubeSat for Disclosure, is a low-Earth orbit satellite which uses ionized radiation, cameras, and radar to capture data.
With enough funds, which the team is hoping to gain through its Indiegogo campaign, the CubeSat will be able to 'concretely verify objects in space.'
Building a satellite of this kind is not a cheap endeavor, and though the team hopes to include radar in the final construction, it may not raise enough money to do so.
THE COST OF A CUBESAT
The CubeSat for Disclosure team is hoping to raise at least $50,000 for its design.
To build their satellite, the team needs:
$19625 - CubeSat kit, which the site says usually runs at $40,000/
$9000 - NanoCam C1U x 2, for one camera, which they aim to turn into two by using mirrors
$4575 - Scintillation counter, to measure radiation in the satellite's environment
$12000 - VHF downlink / UHF uplink Full Duplex Transceiver
$4800 - Deployable Antenna System
Contributors of $100 or more to the campaign will have instant access to the CubeSat data, and $500 will earn you the ability to give commands, like 'take a picture,' to the satellite.
For $10,000, campaign backers will get an additional Cube added to the launch, and will be able to control it.
Software engineer Dave Cote developed the idea alongside other researchers in hopes to bring full disclosure to individuals, on the topic of extraterrestrial intelligence and UFOs.
'Despite many sightings and events, government, military and media have made a strong attempt to discredit the idea of extraterrestrial 'aliens,' says the Indiegogo page.
'And in the face of their apparent 'disbelief' of the topic, the same military and governments have spent huge amounts of money secretly studying these 'ridiculous' UFOs and aliens.'
'What our project aims to do is use a low-orbit satellite controlled by us, the individuals, to study potential objects in our earth's atmosphere,' Cote says in the campaign video.
The CubeSat will be able to measure radiation in its environment through a scintillation counter, and the cameras, which have parabolic lenses, will provide a 360 degree view.
Building a satellite of this kind is not a cheap endeavor, and though the team hopes to include radar in the final construction, it may not raise enough money to do so.
The radar would be among the first radars in space, and would enable the CubeSat team to verify the identities of space objects which emit high energy radiation.
Software engineer Dave Cote developed the idea alongside other researchers in hopes to bring full disclosure to individuals, on the topic of extraterrestrial intelligence and UFOs.
The CubeSat will be able to measure radiation in its environment through a scintillation counter, and the cameras, which have parabolic lenses, will provide a 360 degree view
The CubeSat will be launched through the company IOS Interorbital, and the kit alone costs just under $20,000, and that's with a 50 percent discount, according to the site.
Along with the kit, the team needs an additional $30,000 for other equipment, including a NanoCam, scintillation counter, the transceiver, and the deployable antenna system.
'Maybe we'll get data readings and pictures of solar-flare caused auroras,' says Cote. 'Maybe we'll capture images of some very interesting meteors, and maybe we'll actually capture a verifiable craft.'
The team says there is a need for rigorous study, as witnesses continue to come forward with testimonials, and governments release documents showing interest in the subject.
'All we can do is try,' Cote says. 'By doing this our way, we can open source the data to you, the individuals.'
