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On June 30, 2003,
the first Japanese CubeSats were launched from Plesetsk, Russia.
Followed by their successful launch and operations, we focus
on the origin of the world-wide "CubeSat" project.
We are happy to introduce the interview of Professor Bob Twiggs
at Stanford University, the founder of "CubeSat" project,
about the successful Japanese CubeSats and his future visions.
in English : | 1 | 2 |
3 |
in Japanese : | 1 | 2 |
3 | Q.Why did you establish the world-wide cube
sat project?
It was in our best interest to have many universities
participating in the development work we were doing with our
students. This would provide a demand for launch services
that when coordinated would bring enough funding that would
be of interest to launch providers.
It was also of interest to us to set up a collaborative university
program where students could share their research and achievements
on a global basis
Q. How do you see the successful launch
and operations of the two Japanese CubeSats?
The success of the two Japanese CubeSats is
a premier example of what we had hoped the CubeSat program
would bring. The
University of Tokyo and Tokyo
Inst. of Tech, have been eagerly sharing the information
that they have learned in the flight of their CubeSats such
as thermal performance which if valuable design information
for all of us.
Q. What is the most important key for conducting
a student satellite project?
Our major objective in having these projects
is to teach systems engineering and give students relative
industry experience before graduation. I believe the key from
the student's prospective is to have a 'real' project that
will go into space. Working with something associated with
space is still an exciting opportunity for students and most
engineers.
Q. What kind of advice do you give to students
when they have a hard time with technical developments?
Students should realize that having hard technical
problems on this university project is no different than they
will encounter when the go into industry. If all of the technical
problems were easy, it would not present the challenges that
they now face and the satisfaction gained in solving these
problems. They may need to consult all of the possible resources
to solve these problems such as government and industry engineers.
When working on projects in a university, the work that the
students do, is of no threat to government and industry research
organizations because the universities are not competitors.
This then allows the students, in most cases, to have a free
exchange of information. This is not possible once the students
are working in industry because then there is the proprietary
competition.
in English : | 1 | 2 |
3 |
in Japanese : | 1 | 2 |
3 |
UNISEC
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