Hasta La Gadget!

Jul 01

Pocket Spacecraft hopes to launch personalized moon missions

The prototype Pocket Spacecraft is thin and light.

(Credit: Pocket Spacecraft)

Chances are, most of us will never have the opportunity to walk on the moon, but we might have the opportunity to send a tiny spacecraft in our stead. A Kickstarter project from Pocket Spacecraft wants to launch a moon mission full of personalized space gadgets that would report back to their Earth-bound owners.

Pocket Spacecraft is attempting to raise $440,000 to build out a whole fleet of its tiny spacecraft (called Scouts) and invest in an Interplanetary CubeSat Mothership to transport the little tykes to the lunar surface.

Each Scout consists of a polyimide disc, made from the same material that goes into spacesuits and solar sails. It has a metal hoop that doubles as an antenna. Solar cells, sensors, and instruments can be bonded to the surface to create a super thin and light device. A thousand of these could be sent out on one interplanetary CubeSat.