Aston AstroSoc

To follow what we're doing on Twitter, please follow http://www.twitter.com/ARTechsys

If you'd like a society t-shirt, please do let us know! It comes custom embroidered with your name, Lancer I mission patch and a title of your choice (likely society member). Let us know size and colour (white or navy blue) as well. Price between £23 and £26. Deadline is this Friday (29th).

Final presentation and electronics report coming together!

Working hard on the weekend for the final push and project presentation in the new week. Thomas fuelling up.

Payload testing successful! Got another batch on the way tomorrow.

Today we began integration of our electronics into the airframe and started prep to make it flight worthy: evaluating rigging points and sensor mountings.

Tomorrow we're conducting a second long range test and several hours in the freezer!

As development on our flight computer for Lancer I continues, we sorted out a mission patch!

Extra test photos

Payload test on campus working perfectly!

After a weekend and a bit of solid blood/sweat/caffeine we have a working avionics system!

T-7 minutes to SpaceX CRS-8 launch to the ISS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pUAydjne5M

CRS-8 Dragon Hosted Webcast SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Dragon spacecraft to low Earth orbit to deliver critical cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. Sp...

Revision 1 of the Lancer avionics board is 99% finished. Onto testing, then finishing final software implementation this weekend.

Our boards showed up! Not long until the demonstration deadline

Less than 20 minutes until the most recent European Mars mission, ExoMars 2016, launches from Baikonur! ExoMars 2016 is comprised of the Trace Gas Orbiter, searching for methane in Mars' atmosphere, as well as the Schiaparelli lander, intended to demonstrate EDL technology in preparation for ExoMars 2018, which will land a rover on the surface. http://livestream.com/ESA/exomars

ExoMars launch by European Space Agency Watch European Space Agency's ExoMars launch on Livestream.com. Livestreaming of the launch will begin on 14 March at 08:30 GMT (09:30 CET). Launch is scheduled for 09:31 GMT (10:31 CET) on 14 March with first acquisition of signal expected at 21:28 GMT (22:28 CET)

Successful decoding of information for the Lancer Mk1. Moving onto GPS setup now

SpaceX are launching the SES-9 satellite at 11:46pm GMT. Expected to be an experimental landing, not known if it will be successful or not. Tune in ~20 minutes before launch! http://www.spacex.com/webcast

SES-9 MISSION Share on Facebook Share on Google+

Final composite image!

Best one I think we're going to get, going to bring out the moons now and superimpose

2nd attempt, going to try and superimpose the moons over this one

Not quite happy with this one yet. Still working through post processing

Picture of the moon we took last night by stitching 14 pictures together

Celestron Nexstar 6SE
2x Barlow lens
Canon 60D
1/125, ISO - 320
Stitched with Microsoft ICE

First radio transmission bench test complete! Frequency shifting as expected at 425Hz.

Lancer I avionics system prototype coming on!

After starting the bulk of the work on the Lancer project, we'll only run a Gemini Mars competition team if someone steps forward to organise the group in the writing of the report - a lot of our members are occupied on our high altitude balloon!

Airframe just arrived!

If enough people are interested in the Mars Society Gemini Mars International Design Competition, we'll put together a team. It's a competition spanning a couple of months which tasks teams to design mission architecture for a 2-man flyby of Mars in 2024.

http://www.marssociety.org/home/news/?post=mars-society-announces-international-gemini-mars-design-competition

Let us know if you're interested, the deadline for a letter of intent is Jan 30th.

News & Announcements | The Mars Society

The airframe for the Lancer mk1 stratospheric balloon has been ordered and is on the way! Over the next few months we'll be designing and building the electronic systems to go inside it.

We are using the SkyRay FPV airframe for the basis of the Aston Lancer, utilising the fuselage for the mk1 launch and the entire craft for the mk2 glideback drone.

The Atlas V rocket is about to launch the Cygnus spacecraft on its CRS-4 mission to resupply the space station! http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

NASA Public NASA TV airs a variety of regularly scheduled, pre-recorded educational and public relations programming 24 hours a day on its various channels. Programs include "NASA Gallery", which features photographs and video from NASA's history; "Video File", which broadcasts b-roll footage for news and media…