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Hello wonderful donors!
As we continue to make rapid progress towards the flight phase of our mission we'd like to inform you of an exciting technology demonstration taking place today that has been in the works for the last few months. Today, Saturday 5/8, we will be deploying a free-flying light sail over the beautiful Finger Lakes live at 3 PM EST here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNWlPWT0J4g
A successful test in the analog environment of the stratosphere will bring us one step closer to making the now 5-year-running Alpha dream and all that it represents a reality (and provide us with some stunning video which will absolutely, guaranteed, no questions asked, share with you). We'd like to thank you again for joining us on this journey of exploration and look forward to keeping you informed with more exciting updates in the coming weeks and months!
Ad Astra!
-The Alpha Team
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!
From the top, middle, and bottom of our hearts, we'd like to thank every single person who helped make this dream a reality.
Stay tuned for progress updates in the coming weeks and months!
Ad Astra,
The Alpha Team
We are beyond overjoyed to have received such support over the last couple of weeks and to be so close to achieving our goal!
Thank you for your donations. Thank you for your many words of encouragement. Thank you for flying with us.
Please continue to spread our message.
Ad Astra!
-The Alpha Team
Your donation will monitor power input into our CubeSat, allowing us to determine how much solar power we're getting and help the spacecraft know when to switch between active and sleep modes.
Your donation will allow our spacecraft to detumble and orient with Earth's magnetic field using a novel attitude control system.
Your donation will power our spacecraft, connecting our solar panels to our batteries.
Your donation will control the entire spacecraft, from sensors to communications to attitude control to light sail deployment!
Your donation will allow our spacecraft to receive and transmit messages.
Your donation will keep our spacecraft alive, warm and toasty, when unlit by the sun for 45 minutes at a time, half an orbit.
Your donation will supply NASA standard space-rated wires to connect all our CubeSat components.
Your donation will support the production of Cornell's world renowned spacecraft-on-a-chip flight computers for a novel application aboard our light sail.
Your donation will allow us to bypass the need for a traditional ground station by going through the Iridium network. We will be able to talk to our spacecraft from anywhere in the world using only a web interface!
Your donation will allow us to prove that we are flight ready and able to withstand the immense stresses of a rocket launch.
Your donation will provide the heart and lifeblood of the spacecraft.
Made from space-grade Accura Bluestone, this high-strength 3D printed material enables a customizable structure capable of surviving the drastic temperature ranges of low Earth orbit. Machined and anodized 6061 grade aluminum CubeSat rails will allow for a smooth interface with and ejection from the ISS CubeSat Deployer.