(JP) Student-designed satellite to track whale migrations

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Student-designed satellite to track whale migrations

 

Yomiuri Shimbun

 

A satellite designed by a group of university students will be launched on a

domestically produced H-2A rocket on Dec. 14. The satellite will track the

migratory patterns of whales by receiving radio signals from transmitters

attached to whales.

 

The satellite, a 50-centimeter cube weighing 50 kilograms, was designed by a

student research group led by Prof. Tomonao Hayashi at the Chiba Institute of

Technology .

 

The group's proposal won a prize in a satellite design contest organized by

domestic academic organizations in 1993. Four years later, the group entered a

competition to choose a satellite to be launched on a National Space Development

Agency rocket. The students' plan was selected for its originality and

feasibility.

 

The satellite will circle the Earth about 14 times a day at an altitude of 800

kilometers over the north and south poles.

 

According to the university, the sensor on the whales' bodies collects data

including the mammals' geographic position and the temperature of the

surrounding seawater, sending the data via the satellite to the university's

ground station in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture.

 

As whales migrate extensively through the high seas, it has previously been

difficult, if not impossible, to trace the sea mammals' migratory course.

However, with the launching of the satellite, more information should be able to

be acquired on the mystery of whales' migratory routes.

 

In building the satellite, the group had another problem to resolve--the high

cost of materials. For example, electronic parts and solar batteries had to be

strong enough to stand up to cosmic radiation in space.

 

Although the satellite is small, construction costs could have soared to several

billions of yen because of the high price of parts. The group visited small and

medium-sized companies to find alternative products.

 

" We bought parts from more than 10 companies. Some of them sold their products

without making any profit. Because of such cooperation, we managed to reduce the

cost to 80 million yen, " Hayashi, 74, said. So far, more than 100 university

students have been involved in the satellite program as part of their graduate

research.

 

The oval-shaped, 30-centimeter sensor will be attached to the whales' bodies by

ropes extending from the sensor and anchored in the whales' thick hide with

20-centimeter metal pins.