Space exploration is a dream near and dear to many makers’ hearts and is a great way to encourage kids’ interest in math and science. But it doesn’t take a government agency to put a satellite into space anymore. From crowdsourcing space initiatives and micro satellites to bringing makerspaces to Mars, these makers will be showing off the latest and greatest developments and challenges in space research at Maker Faire Bay Area on May 17-18.
Exhibits
NorCal Mars Rover Project
The NorCal Mars Society is back at Maker Faire to show off their rover prototypes and convince you that our future is on the red planet.
makerfaire.com/makers/norcal-mars-rover-project-2/
Pisces Project
The Canadian Space society aims to create two fish-like robots “equipped with cameras/ sensors/tools to: assist in monitoring the environment in/outside the space station, aid astronauts on missions, or take the public on live virtual tours of the space station.”
makerfaire.com/makers/pisces-project/
ISS-Above
From maker Liam Kennedy about his Raspberry Pi-powered tracker:
The International Space Station passes overhead most populated areas of the world every day. If only you knew it was there. ISS-Above lights up when the ISS is nearby, but that’s not all. It can also tweet a message to the Space Station and it has its own built-in web server to give you a ton of information about current and future passes.
Personal Cosmos takes data like temperature readings or satellite images and projects it onto the inside of a spherical display. Keep track of what’s happening on Earth or even map data from the moon or Mars.
makerfaire.com/makers/personal-cosmos-digital-globe-with-projector-2/
SpaceGAMBIT – Hackerspace Space Program
From Program Manager Jerry Isdale:
SpaceGAMBIT is a 2 year $500k US Government (DARPA) grant funded project to get makers involved in Space education, research and development. We will present summary of the projects funded in first year and talk about our 2nd year projects. The first of our year 2 endeavors is a ”Portable Workstation Contest” with Instructables.com which will be concluding about the time of the Bay Area Maker Faire.
makerfaire.com/makers/spacegambit-hackerspace-space-program/
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