First University of Minnesota-built Small Satellite Launches

Jenna Burgett, a student in the School of Physics and Astronomy, is a project leader for a group that will launch the first Minnesota-built 'cubesat' into space. A cubesat is a small research satellite the size of a shoebox. Signal of Opportunity CubeSat for Ranging and Timing Experiments (SOCRATES) will observe gamma ray photons from deep space. Burgett and Kyle Houser, another member of the The Small Satellite Laboratory delivered SOCRATES in person to Houston for launch on November 2.

The CubeSat will be carried to the International Space Station, which will then release it into Earth’s orbit in January 2020. When launched, SOCRATES will be the first small satellite built by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities to go into space.

Burgett's advisor, Assistant Professor Lindsay Glesener of the School of Physics and Astronomy is one of the co-creators of the Small Satellite Laboratory which provides with supervision and space to design and build their own space research projects.

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