ThinSat, Small Satellite, Program
ThinSat students designed, implemented, and presented their own aerospace projects.
Over the period 2017-2019 Destination SPACE, Inc., partnered with Twiggs Space Lab, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), NearSpace Launch, and Virginia Commercial Space to participate in an innovative small satellite program that increased student engagement and interest in STEM related fields. This was achieved using the ThinSat, a small satellite capable of transmitting data from an extreme low earth orbit (ELEO), approximately 150 miles above the Earth’s surface.
The ThinSat Program set a new standard for STEM related academics in the space industry. Working with Destination SPACE, students from middle school to the university level developed satellite hardware, tested sensor components with low and high altitude weather balloon flights, analyzed data, and participated in a launch of an actual satellite into space.
Destination SPACE's ThinSat Program was a 3-phase after-school STEM program designed to provide hands on remote sensing experiences to K-16 students across Appalachia in the NASA LaRC Service Region in the states of NC, SC, VA, WV, and KY.
Phase I
Phase I introduced participants to concepts related to satellites and remote sensing. They were given ThinSat construction kits that they launched on low altitude weather balloons. Participants built, operated, calibrated, and designed applications from the weather and climate data they collected.
Phase II
In Phase II, students continued learning about satellites, engineering, and the atmosphere.
Building off of Phase I, they designed their own experiments for high altitude weather balloon launches.
After the launch, students analyzed their data and presented their findings.
Phase III
In the much-anticipated Phase III of the ThinSat Program, students designed experiments based on what they learned in Phase I and II. During Phase III students provided engineered ThinSat experiments they designed for launch into ELEO orbit!
On April 17, 2019 ThinSats were launched from the second stage of a Northrup Grumman supply rocket bound for the International Space Station. The ThinSats were to enter a five- to six-day ELEO, however due to a technical difficulty the ThinSat orbits were shortened to 1.5 days. During those orbits the students were able to collect, analyze, and interpret data from their experiments onboard the ThinSats. The April 2019 launch of ThinSats utilized unused space assets and created no lasting orbital debris.
