First-Ever Greek-Built Satellite To Track Shipping To Be Launched 2013
Source: isxys Blog [Greek language]
Lambdasat: The first Greek satellite, built by Greeks, will launch in the summer of 2013 from Cape Canaveral with a "donation" from NASA. It will provide real-time positioning of Greek merchant shipping.
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Satellite Over Indian Ocean File Photo: telecoms.com
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The instigator of the ambitious program is a Greek astrophysicist, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of San Jose California, Periklis Papadopoulos and "manufacturers" of ten Greeks researchers at universities and institutes around the world. The Lambdasat got its name from the letter lambda reminiscent of Greece, sun, sea and constructed through a unique online collaboration of Greek scientists. "It's humbling how this team works; I call the Greek Minds at Work (Greek minds in action), how fast it ran the project and how great was the response of Greeks and Greeks for funding," says the San Jose-based, Mr . Papadopoulos, who explains that the construction of the satellite would cost just $100,000, while the cost of delivery will be undertaken by NASA, and will dock in a spacecraft that will depart during the period August and September - depending when it will be ready. The satellite will be small, and the purpose of the communication and conversations are with the University of the Aegean for providing expertise.
It is so much enthusiasm from Greek scientists around the world, a group of young researchers built a computer system from scratch, AIS, with a market costing over $500,000 and our own created it with minimum cost. "I want to thank from my heart Greek entrepreneurs who helped us financially. The amount needed is about $100,000, we have some offers, but we expect more.
We excluded only those who wanted to give money to advertise on satellite. We want to advertise only Greece and not a person," says Papadopoulos, addressing mainly to young scientists and ask their knowledge. For obvious reasons, he does not want to give the names of sponsors, besides he said, "nor do they want it at this stage." The purpose of the satellite is clearly communicative. It will fly over the earth and give real-time position of all Greek merchant ships. We have already made ??the first contacts at the governmental level, but because everything is so early, there is something to announce. According to Mr. Papadopoulos, if all goes well and the satellite is rocketed in time, it can give useful information about the course the Greek vessels, which are threatened by piracy, particularly off the African coast.
Latter cases [of piracy], off of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, were in early October, Greek owned tanker "Orfeas", which was seized by pirates, who after having emptied the tanks of 32 tons of gasoline, then freed the vessel without harming the crew.
"We will play the role of the Coast Guard, police and army, but we cannot intervene and save ships and crews. A little help however we will offer, is by giving directly the position of the ship, and if this is found, to then risk rushing to the rescue. Not that this is not happening now, but we are proud that this would be done in the near future from a Greek satellite, "said Papadopoulos.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) informed members that, in recent months after the Horn of Africa, the new hot spot of piracy is now the coast of West Africa. According to data from the session of the European Parliament in 2011, 163 ships fell into the hands of pirates, 470 sailors worldwide abducted and killed 15, while the first half of 2012 the number of cases reached 69. Information from African authorities said Somali pirates earn each year from ransom over 160 million dollars.
Periklis Papadopoulos, a 50 year old, comes from Kalamata and is a graduate of the Lycée. During his 20s in America, where, apart from his academic career, he is a partner in NASA's recent mission to Mars Curiosity. He worked for more than 10 years at the Curiosity landing program and was responsible for the thermal protection system. He has also collaborated on many projects and missions for the exploration of space and the planets of our solar system, as an expert in the subject of ultrasonic reintegration. Although he has - and continues to have - a brilliant career in California, loves Greece, which he visits every summer, dreaming of a return when he retires, to his beloved Kalamazoo.
Article via OCEANUSLive Greece Correspondent
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