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Measuring just 10 cm and with the power equivalent to a Game Boy, the BEESAT-1 satellite was thought to be lost in 2013. But a German student defied the odds, regained control and brought the tiny nanosatellite back to life, surprising the world of space science.
Have you ever imagined losing something precious and only having the chance to rescue it more than a decade later? Now, imagine that something is a satellite in orbit, rotating at 27.000 km/h around the Earth. That's exactly what a German student managed to do: resurrect BEESAT-1, a small satellite that had been unusable for 12 years. This story is a mix of science, determination and genius.
Satellite failures are common, after all, space is an extremely hostile environment. Radiation, extreme temperatures and collisions are just some of the challenges. In the case of BEESAT-1, a nanosatellite from the Technical University of Berlin, the failure seemed irreversible… until a young hacker decided he deserved a second chance.
The history of BEESAT-1
BEESAT-1, launched in 2009, is a 1U CubeSat. That means it measures just 10 x 10 x 10 cm — about the size of a shoebox! But despite its small size, it was ambitious: equipped with a camera and a reaction wheel, it had the potential for observation missions and technological experiments. Its processing power? The equivalent of a Game Boy.
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Two years after launch, problems began to arise. First, a controller began sending erroneous data. A backup controller temporarily fixed the problem, but by 2013, the satellite had stopped operating altogether. It was doomed to orbit silently 723 km above Earth for at least 20 years, failing to fulfill its mission.
An impossible mission?
Trying to recover a satellite in orbit is like trying to fit a puzzle piece into a moving car. With a communication window of just 15 minutes per flyby and the speed at which it travels, the challenge seemed insurmountable.
But a German student, known as PistonMiner, saw this impossible mission as an irresistible challenge. Fascinated by BEESAT-1's high orbit, he decided he needed to bring it back to life, even if that meant rebuilding old codes and creating working simulations.
How the hacker brought the satellite back to life
First, PistonMiner analyzed the few signals the satellite was still emitting. He noticed that the data was corrupted, indicating a configuration failure, likely caused by a reboot during memory write.
Using old code and simulations made with parts from other CubeSats, he was able to create software patches. With this, he reprogrammed the satellite and corrected vital parameters. The result? BEESAT-1 has started transmitting telemetry and even images from its camera again!
This guy is a genius of electronic science, let's use his knowledge for good
Dude, the kid who said that the particle collider had transferred us to another reality, he's a genius and he set up a smart weapons company, OLoko, he's become a villain in my opinion, he said that weapons are what keep the peace, and it's a necessity for man.
But is that wrong? Aren't weapons what keep the peace?
My only fear in all of this is the amount of trash we are also throwing into space.
We really are a bunch of ****
Your fear should be of losing your job, of your son hanging out with the wrong people, of your wife's personality, but of a satellite? Think about it like this: the size of the stupid Earth is gigantic, the satellite is tiny, it's as if there were only a few people walking on the Earth, do you understand? Don't be afraid, uncle protects you lol
I don't know if you understood... but he said "garbage" in the plural... and in 1 mini satellite itself. In other words... if it had a problem and the engineers abandoned it... imagine how many others didn't have the same thing happen to? But anyway... I'm afraid of your Portuguese... "your wife's personal"... "stupid land"... lol
Turn off your phone, your TV, your internet and don't be a part of any of this.
Hahahahaha I agree brother... there are much more important things on planet Earth to worry about.
True, especially with education to take many here out of medieval ****.
I don't care about space junk... I'll probably never go to space lol
****
Dude, you just let it go, you don't worry about anything, because human beings are like that, let it go, don't worry about the shoebox or the boy stealing fruit, but when you have 10000 boxes hitting each other and 10000 prisoners who robbed your neighborhood, don't worry either, it was just one boy. Dude, you just let it go and don't worry, in fact you don't worry about two small cases so you have two problems, and 2x2 equals 4, 4x2 equals 8 and so on exponentially you don't worry and fuck up your planet, because space junk and small **** don't exist in your mind. And so you human being fucked up your planet, do you want to **** the universe too??!! Geez, I've never seen an evolutionary **** with so much lust, poor my ****..
Dude, you just let it go, you don't worry about anything, because that's how human beings are, let it go, don't worry about the shoebox or the boy stealing fruit, but when you have 10000 boxes hitting each other and 10000 prisoners who robbed your neighborhood, don't worry either, it was just one boy. Dude, you just let it go and don't worry, in fact you don't worry about two small cases, so you have two problems, and 2x2 equals 4, 4x2 equals 8 and so on exponentially you don't worry and you fuck up your planet, because space junk and petty crime don't exist in your mind. And so you, human being, fucked up your planet, do you want to fuck up the universe too??!! Geez, I've never seen an evolutionary monkey so horny, poor my ass...
He said **** uncle, when the satellite falls on your head I want to see you talk about your son
****
Mr. Paulão, improve your writing style, the message came out incomprehensible.
You don't even know how to write and you want to give your opinion, shut up ba . ba . ca
You are ignorant, perhaps a teenager from this new generation who is incapable of perceiving the impacts we are having on the world. Your comment is unfortunate and ****, because he certainly does not need to be afraid of these issues you raised because they are objective and within his reach to resolve them. What you did not understand is the rhetorical meaning of his comment, why? Because you are ****!
Uncle Paulão is a 13 year old masturbator. Go fuck yourself, boy!
The total area of the Earth exceeds 57 thousand km². Imagine the orbit that represents this circumference at 723 km in height? If humanity in 10 thousand years was not capable of producing garbage that would represent a threat here on the surface, imagine in the vastness of space? I must point out that all this material disintegrates when it collides with the Earth's atmosphere. So don't worry! There are bigger threats down here.
The worst threat to humanity's existence is pressing 13 and confirming. This is a weapon of mass destruction!
It wasn't 13 that killed 700.000
Brazilian
That's right, it must have killed about 300 times more.
Since politics geared towards dictatorships cause more deaths than a deadly virus.
First you have to see who released this **** virus. If you thought the Chinese, you're right.
The earth is flat
True, it was the COVID and the ignorance of those who did not take preventive medications; everyone who used them, as our leader said, got out of the hospital without any problems; what kills a people is this ignorance **** 😢😢😢😢
It's too much ignorance for one person.
We've already done worse, we elected a **** in 2018
Afraid of space junk? I'm afraid of robbers who kill for a piece of junk cell phone to have a beer, I'm afraid of the violence that has reached critical levels under this government.
The previous government killed 300 people for nothing.
I'm afraid of the **** **** who thinks about chloroquine or ivermectin to treat viruses, but doesn't accept the evolution of science and prevention through vaccination.
Dude, you just let it go, you don't worry about anything, because human beings are like that, let it go, don't worry about the shoebox or the boy stealing fruit, but when you have 10000 boxes hitting each other and 10000 prisoners who robbed your neighborhood, don't worry either, it was just one boy. Dude, you just let it go and don't worry, in fact you don't worry about two small cases, so you have two problems, and 2x2 equals 4, 4x2 equals 8 and so on exponentially you don't worry and you fuck up your planet, because space junk and small **** don't exist in your mind. And so you human being fucked up your planet, do you want to **** the universe too??!! Geez, I've never seen an evolutionary **** with so much lust, poor my ****...
Dude, you just let it go, you don't worry about anything, because human beings are like that, let it go, don't worry about the shoebox or the boy stealing fruit, but when you have 10000 boxes hitting each other and 10000 prisoners who robbed your neighborhood, don't worry either, it was just one boy. Dude, you just let it go and don't worry, in fact you don't worry about two small cases, so you have two problems, and 2x2 equals 4, 4x2 equals 8 and so on exponentially you don't worry and fuck up your planet, because space junk and petty crime don't exist in your mind. And so you, human being, fucked up your planet, do you want to fuck up the universe too??!! Geez, I've never seen an evolutionary **** so horny, poor my ass...
Dude, you just let it go, you don't worry about anything, because that's how human beings are, let it go, don't worry about the shoebox or the boy stealing fruit, but when you have 10000 boxes hitting each other and 10000 prisoners who robbed your neighborhood, don't worry either, it was just one boy. Dude, you just let it go and don't worry, in fact you don't worry about two small cases, so you have two problems, and 2x2 equals 4, 4x2 equals 8 and so on exponentially you don't worry and you fuck up your planet, because space junk and petty crime don't exist in your mind. And so you, human being, fucked up your planet, do you want to fuck up the universe too??!! Geez, I've never seen an evolutionary monkey so horny, poor my ass...
The guy is scared, but he uses the Internet that uses satellites to communicate. Congratulations on the inconsistency.
My fear is to believe that Lula is innocent
What about Captain ****?
Mine is also to believe that Bolsonaro is innocent of all the crimes he committed. LOL myth, right?
Go sit on Lula's **** lunchbox