makezine.com: Make 24: Space

Volume 24: Space

MAKE blasts into orbit and beyond with our DIY SPACE issue. Put your own satellite in orbit, launch a stratosphere balloon probe, and analyze galaxies for $20 with an easy spectrograph! We talk to the rocket mavericks reinventing the space industry, and renegade NASA hackers making smartphone robots and Lego satellites. Of course, as usual, we've got a full payload of other cool DIY projects, from a helium-balloon camera that's better than Google Earth, to an electromagnetic levitator that shoots aluminum rings, to a simple stroboscope that takes the most amazing freeze-frame photos. Plus: party-pleasing automated photo booth that prints out photo strips, MythBusters' Adam Savage teaches you hard-shell moldmaking, and much more.

View a list of all links referenced in this volume

Make: Tips
Page 0

Open Sourcing Space by Dale Dougherty in Welcome
The U.S. space program that I grew up with is gone. Yet our fascination with space is not. Page 1

Model It, or Make It Modelable by Saul Griffith in Making Trouble
Computational models are digital, and that makes them inherently shareable, independently verifiable, and easy to collaborate on and improve. Page 13

Memento Mori by Cory Doctorow in Make Free
The standard explanation for the attractiveness of older technology is simply that They Made It Better In The Old Days. But this isn't necessarily or even usually true. Page 16

Warm Glow of Abduction by Goli Mohammadi in Made on Earth
Jason Dietz makes lamps that depict a classic flying saucer shooting down a giant plasma ray and pulling up an unsuspecting victim into the ship. Page 18

Crop Windows by Jon Kalish in Made on Earth
Britta Riley created "window farms" - a way for urban dwellers to garden vertically. Page 20

Watching the Detectors by Megan Mansell Williams in Made on Earth
John Zaklikowski re-creates particle accelerator detectors like the ones at the LHC and at Fermilab in Illinois. Page 21

Free Juice Bar by Bruce Stewart in Made on Earth
The SolarPump Charging Station provides free power for charging cellphones, laptops, electric bikes, and other gadgets by converting solar energy to electricity right on the spot. Page 22

The Lawn Rider by Laura Kiniry   in Made on Earth
Former Navy aviation machinist Ted Wojcik built a pedal-powered lawn mower. Page 23

Aiming High, Real High by Bruce Stewart in Made on Earth
Dan Parker has devoted most of the last five years to designing and building his own high-altitude airplane. Page 24

Lego Antikythera! in Made on Earth
Andrew Carol paid homage to the ancient Greeks by building a functioning Antikythera Mechanism out of Lego. Page 25

Becoming an Amateur Scientist by Forrest Mims III in Country Scientist
Sometimes the capabilities of the amateur scientist rival or even exceed those of their professional counterparts. Page 26

Garden of DIY Delights by Gareth Branwyn in Tales from the Web
Make: Projects is our newest online service, a living library of how-to tutorials being built by the entire maker community. Page 29

A Rube Goldberg Music-Making Machine by Adam Sadowsky in Things I've Learned
Here are some things we learned from building a Rube Goldberg-style machine for an OK Go music video. Page 31

New Resolutions by Dan Woods in Maker's Corner
Learn a new skill, teach a new skill. Page 32

Cut-and-Fold Center Finder by Andrew Lewis in 123
This cut-and-fold cardboard center finder is ideal for all those fiddly measuring jobs. Page 33

Cargo Bike Power in Maker
Car-free carrying makes a comeback. Page 34

Ping Ponger by Edwin Wise in 123
The Ping Ponger uses almost half of a rubber racquetball as a disc spring that's bistable (it can be at rest in 2 possible states) to propel a ping-pong ball from a compact PVC launcher. Page 44

Making Your Own Satellites by Chris Boshuizen
Build and launch your own sat for as little as $8,000. Page 46

Listening to Satellites by Diana Eng
Tune in to space with a homemade yagi antenna. Page 48

Weather Balloon Space Probes by John Baichtal
Sense, signal, and snap photos in the stratosphere. Page 54

Makers at Mission Control by Rachel Hobson
Meet the elite NASA team that figures out how to fix the space station when things go wrong. Page 56

High-Resolution Spectrograph by Simon Quellen Field
Lab-worthy analysis for cheap. Page 58

Rocket Men by Charles Platt
Mavericks of the private space industry. Page 62

DIY Space Roundup
Map the Chemical Composition of the Moon
DIY Ion Engine
Space Rock Hounds
Lunar Lander Simulator
Zillionaires in Space
DIY Inflatable Home Planetarium
Five Cool Participatory Space Projects
Saturday Morning Science in Space
Cash Prizes for Space Scientists
Space Science Gadgets You Can Make for NASA
Androids at 28,000 Feet
Live From Outer Space!
Spaceport Sheboygan
Backyard Astrophotography Page 68

Dizzy Robot by Steve Hoefer in 123
Dizzy Robots are cute pocket-sized pals that dance around until they fall over. Page 78

Helium Balloon Imaging "Satellite" by Jim Newell
Snap aerial photos from 300' up by suspending a hacked drugstore camera from 3 tethered helium balloons. Page 80

Stroboscope by Walter Kitundu, Nicole Catrett
Make a mechanical strobe with a toy motor and construction paper, pair it with a digital SLR camera, and take stunning photographs of objects in motion. Page 90

Electromagnetic Aluminum Levitator by Thomas R. Fox
This simple AC-powered coil device uses magnetism to levitate aluminum rings and shoot them into the air - and aluminum isn't even magnetic! Page 100

Hard-Shell Molds by Adam Savage in Skill Builder
The science behind the art of prop-making. Page 108

Sneaky Milk Plastic by Cy Tymony in 123
When separated from milk by using an acid such as vinegar, casein becomes a moldable plastic material that can be used to create everything from glue to fabric to billiard balls. Page 116

A Simple Light Sculpture by Jared Bouck in DIY: Imaging
Swirling colors for long-exposure photos. Page 117

Photo Booth by David Cline in DIY: Imaging
Make an arcade-style snapshot station for special occasions. Page 120

Add Volume, Jack by Peter Edwards in DIY: Music
Plug in and turn up any sound-making battery toy. Page 123

Wooden Buttons by Kristin Roach in DIY: Home
Make your own tree bling from fallen branches. Page 126

Jar Organizer by Josie Moores, Abe Connally in DIY: Home
Put those old jars to good use. Page 128

Crochet Crockery by Andrew Lewis in DIY: Home
Unique containers made from yarn and resin. Page 130

Freezer Bag Holder by Larry Cotton in DIY: Home
Coat hanger keeps zip-lock bags open Page 132

Da Vinci Reciprocating Mechanism by Alan Federman in DIY: Toys
Re-create Renaissance tech to convert rotation into a square wave. Page 133

Bucket Full O' Pockets by Josie Moores, Abe Connally in DIY: Workshop
Make your tool bucket even handier with a nifty cover. Page 137

Homemade Seed Starters by Josie Moores, Abe Connally in DIY: Outdoors
Avoid transplant mortality by making soil blocks. Page 140

Greenhouse Controller by Andrew Lewis in DIY: Outdoors
Build a temperature-switched power outlet and save some green. Page 143

Extreme Zap-a-Mole by Charles Platt in Electronics: Fun and Fundamentals
Learn how a single microcontroller does the work of 20 old-school chips. Page 146

Steamy Honeymoon Goggles by Bob Knetzger in Toy Inventor's Notebook
Balloon-Dispensing Steampunk Honeymoon Night Vision Goggles! Page 151

Hawk Rescue! by Lee D. Zlotoff in MakeShift
Rescue an injured mother hawk and her family. Page 152

Sun Time by Saul Griffith in Howtoons
If you know how many hands it takes to measure from east to west, you can figure out how many hours you have left to play today! Page 154

Chinese Abacus by Tom Parker in Make Money
Sometimes it costs more to buy it than to make it from the money itself. Page 165

Circular Reasoning: Planet Earth by Bob Harris in Aha!
Page 167

Carve a Stone Bowl by Tim Anderson in Heirloom Technology
Make a gift to eternity in about two hours. Page 168

Alessandro Volta and Electrodeposition by William Gurstelle in Remaking History
Before the chemists of the 19th century understood electrochemistry, most metal items were made from one solid hunk of metal; the same on the inside, outside, and everywhere in between. Page 170

My Own FrankenBrewery by Matthew Wirtz in Homebrew
Page 176

MAKE: Amends Errata for this volume.

Where it appears	Lego Antikythera!, Page 25
The error	In Volume 24, "Lego Antikythera," we mistakenly ran a photo of Andrew Carol's Babbage difference engine made with Lego. The corrected article showing Carol's Antikythera mechanism made of Lego is available in the MAKE Digital Edition and also here (Click for downloadable PDF).

Join the conversation -- every MAKE article has an online page that includes a place for discussion. We've made these RSS and Atom feeds to help you watch the discussions: subscribe.