BYU Camera Launching Into Orbit To Take Photos Of NASA Spacecraft

A group of student engineers from Brigham Young University wanted to see what space really looks like without ever leaving Earth.

With funding from NASA, the group built a 360-degree satellite camera designed to operate in outer space.

The Passive Inspection CubeSat, or PICS, will launch into outer space on an official mission. It will take photographs of NASA's spacecraft and check for possible damage that otherwise cannot be seen.

After that mission is complete, the camera can be used to take other images as well.

The free-floating device is called "Spacecreaft Selfie Cam" and has cameras on all six sides which allows for a 360-degree view.

The CubeSat will be launched with eight other universities' satellites as part of NASA's ELaNa 20 mission. This is an initiative that funds college research teams to build flight experiment.

David Long, a BYU engineering professor, told KSL, "This was our proposal to do this, we thought this would be a useful tool."

He stated that this would allow for NASA to get inexpensive photographs of the outside of the space station.

The CubeSat is only about $20,000 per unit, which is considered inexpensive for spacecraft.

The satellite will do into a device similar to a Pez dispenser, where it will then be ejected and begin its mission to start taking photos. Antennas will trigger the radio and begin sending data back down to Earth.

Photo: Getty Images

Source: KSL