Project Starshine is a family of scientific research satellites that are covered with smalls mirrors that are polished by student volunteers world-wide.
Over the past 20 years, the satellites have been deployed from a variety of launch platforms including The Space Shuttle.
The unique and amazing opportunity that Starshine gives to the students who particpate in the program is that they are able to, on a clear night,
see their work pass overhead as it orbits the earth! This builds a personal connection with their real-world hands-on contributions to engineering the satellite.
Furthermore, Starshine is about REAL science. Over its time in space, Starshine's changing orbit shows us the complex interaction between the sun
and our upper atmosphere. The beauty of the Starshine program is that it inspires participants of all ages and all levels of scientific and engineering expertise to
participate, contribute and inspire others to discover the wonders of space.
Finding Starshine
To help observers around the world find Starshine as it passes overhead, the Starshine team is pleased to be partnering with the world's leading satellite orbit tracking and
visualization company, Analytical Graphics Inc (AGI). AGI has incorporated Starshine into their CelesTrak tool kit which allows a quick and easy way for
anyone interested in observing Starshine to first determine when Starshine will be passing overhead as well as where to look amongst the backdrop of the night
sky's starfield. The tool has innovative and intuitive features that will both help teach as well as reinforce concepts of orbital mechanics for all levels of
interest and experience. Best of all, the tool is web-based and can be used on both desktop and mobile devices. Below is a tutorial on how to use the Path Visualization
feature of CelesTrak.
Click HERE to go directly to CelsTrak's Starshine page.
Get the App to Track the Sat
Historically, collecting ground-based hand-collected observations of passing satellites was accomplished through a well
coordinated effort utilizing a starmap and wristwatch or with a compass and a protractor. Today, using mobile devices such as
an iPhone or iPad, we can simply point-and-tap to collect this observational data. The Starshine Track App will help you
easily collect this handheld data. It also makes it a snap to upload your observations into our sophisticated orbital mechanics
algorithms that utilize oservations from around the world to solve for the current orbital elements of Starshine.
The tutorials below will teach you how to use the app to first track Starshine and take observations and then refine and upload those observations
to Starshine's website to be combined with sightings from other parts of the world
Contact
To contact the Starshine team, please email: starshine@ss2gl.com
