SAT-LAB

Overhead right now

Above your head right now there could be as many as 2,000 satellites, and thousands more artificial objects that we can track, in orbit across the whole sky. What are these objects are how do they affect our lives?

Some of them affect us in very direct ways. The GNSS satellites, which consists of over 100 satellites, form the navigation services that we rely on such as GPS. Satellite TV, the images on Google maps, satellite phones, meteorological services, internet in remote areas are some of the ways we can experience this technology but there are many others.

What Powers this?

Our communication with these devices are facilitated by Radio. Radio is a system that uses electromagnetic radiation as a means to send information between two points without wires.

EM radiation is how your microwave cooks food but when organised they can be used to carry data. The same frequency of wave is used in microwave ovens as is used in your WIFI router. Depending on the types of technology used this information can be sent hundreds of kilometres, or even from satellites tens of thousands of kilometres above us.

What is the lesson?

The lesson starts with an example of radio communication using antennas and an SDR (software defined radio) in the classroom to give some background in how radio works and how how antennas play into their performance.

Following that we discuss the satellites that serve the purpose of our demonstration and how they work.

Then the class heads outside to use a radio system to connect to a stream of the Himawari-8 satellite in geosynchronous orbit. During this stage we record the data being transmitted live from the satellite.

We then return inside to decode that information in class and turn that data into an image of our Earth.

Why learn about this?

Satellites provide a range of opportunities to discuss so many topics. Radio communication, space and orbits, electronics and data; all of these topics give students a gateway into how technology both in orbit and on the ground work. We also need to combat the rise of misinformation, radio waves and space are both two areas where a lack of understanding has lead to conspiracy theories and deception that don’t hold water with even the most basic deduction. The SAT-LAB program teaches about the following concepts.

  • Electromagnetic Radiation: EM radiation, or Radio waves are a fundamental source of communication. From the radio in your car, WIFI in your house, 4G to your phone and the way we talk to satellites, they are all EM radiation.

  • Antennas: Gone are the days of touching the TV antenna with a coat hanger to get a better signal. Reception is getting better and better, and antennas are getting smaller and better hidden. Even though we carry many on our person at any given moment we are noticing them less and less.

  • Orbital Mechanics: There are over 20,000 satellites being tracked in our sky right now. Some go around the Earth many times a day, others sit above a single spot its entire life.

  • Data Encoding: Every bit of data in the digital age is encoded into signals that we can use to make words and images.

Not only are these subjects crucial in many fields of engineering and science, they are becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives as well. EM radiation is inescapable and needs to be understood or it can be misused; more and more we see conversations about services like 5G and WIFI as being sources of harmful radiation. Let’s add to the conversation. Almost as prevalent; people are denying the validity of images and scientific data to suggest that the world is flat. Let’s demonstrate, live and in person, the real world workings of these systems.

Why choose Cereus Education to tell you about satellites?

I have spent many years working on radio systems in avionics. The experience developing systems of radio communication on Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) gave me an opportunity to work on radio systems for terrestrial, aerial and satellite systems.

This experience includes work directly with active communications systems, such as Iridium and Inmarsat, which are used as direct lines of data as well as with passive systems of global positioning.

This experience in both satellites, terrestrial radio, flight and the underlying systems of communication means that I can deliver not only this workshop to students but also answer questions and provide additional background that require experience to answer. I also have a background in delivering education with STEM education volunteering organisations and start-ups.

Interested in a STEM activity that’s different to the others?

There’s many courses out there that provide STEM activities for the classroom, but how many give students a chance to see from space and get the chance to see how these images are broadcasted to us from space itself.