Posts Tagged ‘Kickstarter’
KickSat to launch sprites into space
It’ll look like hundreds of postage stamps fluttering toward Earth — each an independent satellite transmitting a signal unique to the person who helped send it to space.
A Cornell-based project called KickSat is set to launch more than 200 of these tiny satellites, nicknamed “sprites,” into low-Earth orbit as part of a routine NASA-administered mission in 2013 to the International Space Station. And unlike traditional, big government space exploration, KickSat is truly a launch by the people.
Several years ago…Zac Manchester…now a graduate student in aerospace engineering, dreamt up the idea of crowd-sourced, personal space exploration. He and Ryan Zhou…and Justin Atchison…designed and built a prototype spacecraft that fits in the palm of the hand and costs just a few hundred dollars to make. The sprites are a type of micro-satellite called a “ChipSat…”
Manchester’s goal, he says in his blog about the mission, “is to bring down the huge cost of spaceflight, allowing anyone from a curious high school student or basement tinkerer to a professional scientist to explore what has until now been the exclusive realm of governments and large companies. By shrinking the spacecraft, we can fit more into a single launch slot and split the costs many ways. I want to make it easy enough and affordable enough for anyone to explore space.”
Sprites are the size of a cracker but are outfitted with solar cells, a radio transceiver and a microcontroller (tiny computer). KickSat, which is the name of the sprites’ launching unit, is a CubeSat, a standardized cubic satellite the size of a loaf of bread, frequently used in space research.
Using Kickstarter.com to find sponsors for the mission, Manchester raised nearly $75,000 as more than 300 people sponsored a sprite that will transmit an identifying signal, such as the initials of the donor. In 2013, about 250 sprites will be sent into space. One person, who donated $10,000, Manchester added, will get to “push the big red button” on the day of the launch.
A delightful dedication to citizen science. A special tradition centuries-old.
Last minute Xmas gift? – Grilled Cheesus sandwich maker
This Kickstarter project has reached its goal and Grilled Cheesus sandwich presses will be rolling out to investors and consumers alike.
Check in with your local kitchen gadget/religious money sponge to see if they’re carrying it, yet.
Vertical Food Gardens by The Windowfarms Project
Windowfarms let you grow fresh vegetables at home by taking advantage of natural light and climate control indoors. The roots are bathed in nutrients from the sea, preventing food plants from getting root bound (as they do in traditional soil filled containers). You get healthier roots, and fresher, more nutritious vegetables without dirt in small spaces.
By bringing edible gardens into living rooms and kitchens, you learn about where your food comes from while eating the freshest produce available…
This is a Kickstarter project and special offer.
The new Windowfarms systems are made from environmentally friendly plastic and wire. The new design allows us to offer Windowfarms at a greatly reduced price…It just snaps together, decreasing the assembly time from a full day to about ten minutes.
We are so excited about this simplified and lower cost option because it will allow us to include people in the windowfarms movement who just want to focus on the growing part. We believe in the power of our community to change the way that people grow and eat food.
If you order before November 30, you’ll receive your Windowfarm in March 2012.
Our new Windowfarms will not be ready to ship by the holidays, however, if you are pre-ordering as a gift, we will send a personalized welcome-to-the community card to your loved one before December 24. The card will include a link to a personalized webpage for his/her windowfarm. Your giftee will be able to begin customizing the page and learning about his/her window’s microclimate, going through Windowfarms 101, selecting plants, and meeting other windowfarmers. It’s like the Facebook game, Farmville, but tastier! By the time the windowfarm arrives, your loved one will be ready to grow for real!!
My mom built systems like this in our kitchen when I was a kid back in a New England factory town. It gave us a certain amount of fresh greens all winter long. Kept our meals healthy and a bit mellower till we got back to normal growing season for our Victory Garden.
Thanks, Ursarodinia
An iPod watch project explodes online
A project that began with an iPod Nano and an experimental wristwatch design has quickly exploded online, receiving over $540,000 in funding through Kickstarter, a Web site that helps people find support for projects.
The project was created by the Chicago-based design firm Minimal, which wants to take the iPod Nano, Apple’s latest tiny multitouch iPod, and incorporate it into a wristwatch. Those who pledge $25 to the project will receive a Nano-holding watch kit when it is produced.
Scott Wilson, founder of Minimal, said his company had been astonished by the response to the idea.
“It just seems to keep on going,” Mr. Wilson said, referring to the number of pledges received since the project idea was posted online two weeks ago. “I had expectations that we would get $15,000 in funding from Kickstarter, but by the second day of sales we had quickly passed that.”
Fred Benenson, an employee at Kickstarter, said on Twitter Thursday that the project was the first on Kickstarter to top $500,000 in funding…
The TikTok design created by Minimal turns the Nano into a watch by letting you snap it into a wrist dock. The LunaTik, a more expensive design, is meant to be more permanent. It is made of aluminum and holds the Nano in place with screws.
Mr. Wilson said he decided to finance the project through Kickstarter to ensure that his designers had more input on the final product.
“I’m most excited about using this platform to give creative control to the designers and experiment with the product without having to enter a complicated corporate deal to produce it,” Mr. Wilson said. “It seems to be working; there’s nothing more validating than someone putting a credit card down to buy something.”
We’re starting to offer Giftmas suggestions to our readers, this week. This is the first of several.
I was a more than reasonably successful salesman when I was working at it – in fields as wide-ranging as sporting goods to tech goodies. This is one of those products I would have loved to sell to retailers. Its attractive design adds more functionality to an already successful product. Piece of cake.
Holler at your Congress-critter to support Bernie Sanders' bill to 
