CINCINNATI — University of Cincinnati students will watch their student-built satellite launch into orbit on its way to the International Space Station next week.
The student aerospace organization, CubeCats, built Ohio's only student-led satellite. The 10-year project crossed the finish line in January and is set to blast into space on April 8.
The satellite will help astronauts on future missions to the moon and Mars.
"We're trying to test out the best material to block out radiation as everyone is trying to get to Mars and beyond," Program Manager Samuel Kohls said. "We want to make sure that our astronauts and everyone that's traveling to these faraway places is able to not have any sort of radiation illnesses."
Watch below to see more of the project:
While satellites are often thought of as giant objects, the CubeCats satellite is the size of a tissue box.
"Yes, so this is what's called a 1 cube satellite," Kohls said. "And it makes it really easy to stack a bunch of these in a tube and they're deployed, or at least ours is deployed by basically a spring-loaded launcher off of the International Space Station."
CubeCats president, Nathan Nguyen, along with Kohls and executive team member Mike Carovillano, who is pursuing his MBA at the university's Lindner College of Business, helped complete the design.
There is a two-day launch window starting next Tuesday. NASA invited a group of students to watch the historic launch, and they promise to send updates from the Kennedy Space Center.
