Rachel_Sandford
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In the late 60s, the Space Department at the now-disbanded Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough built the Prospero satellite and made plans for it to be launched on top of the Black Arrow rocket. Launch failures, a lack of budget, and insufficient testing prompted Ministers to cancel the project in July of 1971, but since the rocket and its payload were already at the Woomera base in the Australian desert, those heading the project decided to just give the launch a try.
One successful launch later, the Prospero became the first and only British built satellite to be launched on a British rocket. Designed to test solar cell efficiency, study the environment from its altitude (1402 kilometres above earth), and measure micrometorites, the satellite operated successfully till 1973, and it was contacted annually till the early or mid 90s. Since then, it's been circling the earth every 100 minutes or so.
Now, a group of scientists, led by PhD student, Roger Duthie from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey, want to re-establish communications in time for the satellite's 40[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary. Seeing that the satellite isn't expected to decay for another 100 years, the scientists believe that establishing contact will be worth the while, especially if some of the experiments are still active.
It's not to be an easy task, however. Outlining their mission on the Space Boffins podcast, the scientists revealed that they first have to get the approval of Ofcom to use Prospero's radio frequencies, which are currently being employed by other satellite operators. Then, they have to build the equipment to “talk” to Prospero.
“First we have to re-engineer the ground segment from knowledge lost, then test the communications to see if it's alive,” said Duthie. “Then we can have drinks and champagne.”
Though a difficult endeavor, it seems the group is up to the challenge. Upon realizing that the codes to contact the satellite were missing, they were completely unfazed. Instead, they contacted old members of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and after going through a lot of dusty boxes at the National Archives in Kew, London, they found the codes on a typed piece of paper.
“The technical reports made in the 1970 were thought to have been lost. We talked to the people involved in Prospero, searched through dusty boxes in attics and tried the library at Farnborough,” said Duthie
Once everything is settled on earth's end, the scientists will try to establish communication, and if possible, give a public demonstration.
“It's an artefact of British engineering,” said Duthie. “We should find out how it's performing.”
One successful launch later, the Prospero became the first and only British built satellite to be launched on a British rocket. Designed to test solar cell efficiency, study the environment from its altitude (1402 kilometres above earth), and measure micrometorites, the satellite operated successfully till 1973, and it was contacted annually till the early or mid 90s. Since then, it's been circling the earth every 100 minutes or so.
Now, a group of scientists, led by PhD student, Roger Duthie from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey, want to re-establish communications in time for the satellite's 40[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary. Seeing that the satellite isn't expected to decay for another 100 years, the scientists believe that establishing contact will be worth the while, especially if some of the experiments are still active.
It's not to be an easy task, however. Outlining their mission on the Space Boffins podcast, the scientists revealed that they first have to get the approval of Ofcom to use Prospero's radio frequencies, which are currently being employed by other satellite operators. Then, they have to build the equipment to “talk” to Prospero.
“First we have to re-engineer the ground segment from knowledge lost, then test the communications to see if it's alive,” said Duthie. “Then we can have drinks and champagne.”
Though a difficult endeavor, it seems the group is up to the challenge. Upon realizing that the codes to contact the satellite were missing, they were completely unfazed. Instead, they contacted old members of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and after going through a lot of dusty boxes at the National Archives in Kew, London, they found the codes on a typed piece of paper.
“The technical reports made in the 1970 were thought to have been lost. We talked to the people involved in Prospero, searched through dusty boxes in attics and tried the library at Farnborough,” said Duthie
Once everything is settled on earth's end, the scientists will try to establish communication, and if possible, give a public demonstration.
“It's an artefact of British engineering,” said Duthie. “We should find out how it's performing.”
