Satellite microcircuits ("stardust") will enter orbit

A few days later, the last flight of the American shuttle Endeavor ( STS-134 ) should finally take place , with which the trials of three experimental miniature satellites measuring 3.8 x 3.8 x 0.2 cm, that is, with a large coin, will begin. Each experimental apparatus consists of seven solar cells, a microprocessor, an antenna with an amplifier, capacitors and a control circuit that turns on the radio transmitter when enough charge is accumulated in the capacitors. It's all. The satellite’s weight on the Earth’s surface is 10 grams.

Such satellites have a number of advantages. Firstly, they are energy efficient, because solar panels cover the entire surface of the device.

Secondly, they can be put into orbit by thousands and even millions, there are no problems with weight lifting.

Thirdly, such vehicles can occupy a position in a very low orbit of 300-400 km and therefore do not burn out in the atmosphere when they fall to Earth.

Each microcircuit from orbit should give a weak signal at a frequency of 902 MHz. If it can be caught (which is a nontrivial task in itself), then the interval between the signals will give information about the charging speed of the capacitors, so that we get information about the orientation of the satellites to the Sun. On this mission of the apparatus will be completed.

The experiment should confirm the viability of the concept, and in the future such a "stardust" can be launched into the orbits of other planets. Chipset Chief Engineer Mason Peck at Cornell University saysthat optimized versions of devices can have a size of 14 x 14 mm and a thickness of 20 microns. With such a thickness, they can work like solar sails and move in space. Maneuvers will be carried out by evaporating the film from the surface.

This is a radically new approach to space exploration, which has already been described in science fiction literature. For example, in Wilson’s novel “Spin” (2006 Hugo Prize), every developed civilization in the Universe launched into the space a network of microscopic scouts who could reproduce their own kind, destroy similar enemy vehicles, transfer the collected information back to the base planet in a chain and get new instructions. That is, interstellar battles and diplomacy in space are carried out exclusively at the program level.