A group of techies have turned to crowd-sourcing in order to fund their idea of a UFO hunting mini-satellite. After an unsuccessful run on the crowd-sourcing website Indiegogo, their second campaign, via Kickstarter, has proven successful, and they have received the funding needed to build and launch their mini-UFO hunting device.
The campaign is called “CubeSat for Disclosure – Low-Earth Orbit Satellite” and is utilizing off-the-shelf technology to develop a relatively cheap observation platform in space.
The Kickstarter campaign sought to raise $10,000, and the group says they already had $16,000 in previous funding. As of the writing of this story, the Kickstarter campaign has raised $10,100.
Even though they have the funding they needed to complete the project, project organizer Dave Shock says they can use all of the funding they can get.
“We made our goal, but we still need donations to help pay for all the other stuff that we will incur as the project proceeds,” said Shock via Facebook. “We still have a few more days left on our campaign so stop by our page and donate a few dollars if you can.”
There are several companies that offer equipment for what are called CubeSats, also referred to as nanosatellites. These are small satellites that offer an affordable way for students, researchers, and private companies to have their own little satellite. The cubes measure 10x10x10 centimeters.
CubeSat for Disclosure plans to add cameras, a way to communicate and download information from the satellite from the ground, and a scintillation counter. The group says the scintillation counter “enables us to measure the various radiation in our satellite’s environment. This is significant as it enables us to detect high energy particles, radiation, and other phenomenon.”
Image of the UFO CubeSat design provided by CubeSat for Disclosure. (Credit: CubeSat for Disclosure)
They will use two cameras with parabolic lenses in order to get a 360 degree view around the satellite, and want to add radar if the technology and the budget permits.
Their main goals is to hopefully capture verifiable data and images of UFOs. They feel the topic has been ridiculed, but that it is worthy of “rigorous scientific study.”
If you want to support the project, there are still a couple of days left to invest and get a Kickstarter reward, such as a CubeSat for Disclosure t-shirt or your very own UFO hunting CubeSat.
For more about this project, listen to the Open Minds UFO Radio show with Dave Cote, another project manager for the team.
