Brilliant Minds: Cubed to Outer Space
Many countries made many satellites, some were huge, and some were small. Some are used to track weather patterns, and some are used to observe the vast space — some orbit the Earth and others. As of late, more satellites have been launched, and it may be one of the Philippines ’ most outstanding projects yet!
The Maya Cube Satellites were launched just recently on October 6, and are collecting data as we know it, and there were 2; Maya-3 and Maya-4, and an orbit the Earth 400 km above the ground and revolving every 1 1/2 hours. These cube satellites were made under the surveillance of the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation, and Advancement (STAMINA4Space). Built by the Philippine University, both are the first to be created by them and are made to test red, green, and blue (RGB) and near-infrared (NIR) Cameras for taking images and videos to collect data from remote ground sensors, namely temperature, humidity, and wind speed.
In the Philippines, we are constantly purged by typhoons and sudden weather changes throughout the year. This invention might help raise awareness and give precautional warnings by frequently collecting data for the authorities to help lessen casualties in natural weather-related disasters, and also helps keep track of possible El Ninos or El Ninas so the farmers and other agricultural institutions can be ready and the commonality.
The satellites’ engineer, Renzo Wee, said this symbolizes a new milestone and stepping stone in the Philippines pursuing science and technology. “It shows that we’re already capable of developing satellites domestically. This is all thanks to the continuous efforts of various people passing the proverbial torch from one to another. Knowledge and skills learned abroad being proliferated to Filipinos here and now in the Philippines,” Wee said.
He hopes that the team will become an asset to the Philippines’ space science and technology department and teach others their knowledge and experiences to future satellite builders. “I would like to congratulate the members of the Space Science and Technology Proliferation through University Partnership (STeP-UP) Project under the STAMINA4Space program for the successful launch of our newest nanosatellites Maya-3 and Maya-4 into space,” Philippine Space Agency Director General Joel Joseph Marciano said.
Many Filipino achievements are commendable and helped society on a large scale, and as we prosper as time passes, our technology and innovations will also take another step forward. As these satellites revolve around the Earth, the Filipinos’ passion for science revolves around their inventions.
