ARKYD: A Space Telescope for Everyone

[Somamech]

The first publicly accessible space telescope! Take amazing photos of space or have your photo displayed above the Earth.

The ARKYD is a technologically advanced, orbiting space telescope that will be controlled by YOU, the crowd, through your pledges and community involvement! You can even direct your telescope time to non-profit science centers and universities for use in your communities!

Just think about the true impact of this endeavor for a moment.  Together we can provide access to technology that costs tens of millions of dollars into the hands of students, scientists and a new generation of explorers, who will use it in ways we can't even fathom yet!
At Planetary Resources, our primary focus is mining asteroids, and we're pushing the boundaries of what is possible by vertically integrating and applying innovations from consumer-based industries. It's our goal to reduce the cost of space observatories many times over, allowing anyone to access them for their own use. We want to empower the crowd to solve the big problems of our time — and this is the first step to making that a reality. 

Youtube Channel:

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http://www.youtube.com/user/PlanetaryResources?feature=watch

[Somamech]

Project is via Kickstarter:

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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1458134548/arkyd-a-space-telescope-for-everyone-0?ref=NewsMay3013&utm_campaign=May30&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

[Gigas]

Ya know, captain underpants at that godlickspopsicles site begged his audience for cash to build a scope and he did it. Funny thing though, he refuses to mention anything about his telescope anymore and when questioned, BANG, you be banned.

I was banned way back when he first posted pics of the scope in action and he had a video with the moon only I noticed it was flipped backwards and when I pointed that out BANG, I WAS GONE.

So, maybe we can do a system lord Z scope in the Nevada desert some time.

[Somamech]

That's well interesting, as I had an "idea" age's ago to put up a simple scope for the Moon, and yes obviously I don't have talent to that!

That is partly why I posted this project, 'as a WTF' more than anything else, the other reason get's back to my idea of yore of putting a scope up there to view the Moon

I've been wondering where all those Nasa engineer's went after the shuttle retirement, along with windshield wiper's .. they are on kickstarter LOL

[thorfourwinds]

From:
Chris Lewicki
President & Chief Asteroid Miner
Planetary Resources


Hi thorfourwinds,

Alien planets are out there and Planetary Resources needs your help to find them!

That's right, the same high-powered telescope technology being used by Planetary Resources to identify near-Earth asteroids can also be used to hunt for what scientists call extrasolar planets or "exoplanets" – which are very much alien worlds. For the first-time ever, this capability will be placed directly into the hands of students, researchers and citizen scientists.

Planetary Resources recently launched a campaign on Kickstarter for the ARKYD – the world's first crowdfunded space telescope accessible to the public.

In only 13 days, the company has already reached well over 85 percent of its original US$1 million goal. Today, the company is announcing that if the total amount pledged exceeds US$2 million in the 19 days remaining in the campaign, it will invest the additional funds to enhance the ARKYD space telescope technology to enable it to search for alien planets! 

Visit Planetary Resources' Kickstarter Page to Pledge Your Support: http://bit.ly/ARKYD-100

These upgrades would add exoplanet transit detection capability by enhancing the telescope's stability systems and dedicating time to monitor candidate star systems.  A special bonus is that this upgrade would also allow for better measurement of the spin-properties of asteroids, using the same technique. 

"While the ARKYD won't rival NASA's US$600 million Kepler spacecraft, which may have to end its mission due to a recent equipment failure, the enhanced ARKYD will be a huge step toward important new scientific discoveries enabled by citizen scientists," said Chris Lewicki, President and Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc.

The company is partnered with one of the world's leading exoplanet scientists, Sara Seager, Ph.D. of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Seager, Professor of Physics and Planetary Science at MIT stated, "We're excited about this game-changing approach that could transform how we do science in the future. 

It's not just about advanced technology in a small satellite, but a crowdfunded approach to space science that could be revolutionary. The enhanced version of the ARKYD telescope will be an important source of data for exoplanets that can only be obtained from space, above the blurring effects of Earth's turbulent atmosphere."

Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Planetary Resources Co-Founder and Co-Chairman said, "We're confident this campaign will exceed the original goal of US$1 million dollars. We're now focusing on enhancing the capabilities of the telescope and creating meaningful and epic crowd involvement," he continued,

"We're a hardware and inspiration company, and we're thrilled to provide a new generation of space pioneers with the ability to take a hands-on approach to exploration."

To date, more than 9,400 people from around the globe have pledged their support for the ARKYD.  Over 8,000 have requested their very own #SpaceSelfie, another 900 people have donated time on the ARKYD to education and many others are looking to gain access to the telescope to explore the cosmos on their own!

-Chris Lewicki
President & Chief Asteroid Miner
Planetary Resources




Are there any requests for this service from the Membership?

As in, what would YOU want to look at with this technology?

tfw
Peace Love Light
Liberty & Equality or Revolution

[robomont]

brilliant idea.sorry but my funds are being used already.yall know where.i bet they get all they need though.i can see kids all over the nation pitching in change.

[Amaterasu]

Um...  The moon...

[Elvis Hendrix]

Um...  The moon...

I'm with Amy