the Puerto Rico CubeSat NanoRocks-2 (PR-CuNaR2), the first Puerto Rican satellite was launched this morning into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The satellite, which was part of SpaceX’s Mission 23, was developed and built by students from SpaceX. Bayamón School of Engineering of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico (INTER) and is part of the Elana 36 project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The PR-CuNaR2 was launched into the SpaceX23 Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. The journey, from takeoff to its arrival on the International Space Station, will take nine hours.
What will be the mission of the Puerto Rican satellite?
PR-CuNaR2 will study the origin and development of young planets and stars, as explained by Professor Amílcar Racó Charris, head of the project.
The satellite, which weighs 5.6 pounds and measures four inches wide by four inches long and 12 inches high, completed the tests it underwent in July.
Inside, the satellite has stainless steel and silicon microparticles that emulate asteroids. As it orbits in space, the microparticles will be colliding.
The satellite is ready to orbit for two years, but could be longer. It will then be attracted to the atmosphere until it disintegrates.
Puerto Rico’s CubeSat NanoRocks-2 will be launched into space this weekend.
The team that developed the project chose the 56º orbit to place the PR-CuNaR2 and that it could pass over Puerto Rico twice a day for 10 minutes. In this way, the satellite will pass through Puerto Rico more times than in other orbits.
About 65 students, both women and men, have been part of the development of the PR-CuNaR2, which began in March 2018, although the design and construction prototype began in 2013. Many of these students have already graduated.
Other curious facts about PR-CuNaR2:
1. The cover of the satellite box bears the names of the three students and the teacher who delivered the PR-CuNaR2. The cover will be returned once NASA recovers it.
2. The flag of Puerto Rico has been accompanying the satellite at all times. When students Wilhem Sánchez Rodríguez, Jesús Marrero Colom and Carlos Vergara Quiles and professor Amílcar Racó Charris arrived at the facilities of Nanoracks in Houston, Texas to do the final tests on the PR-CuNaR2, the work team of Nanoracks designated to make the inspections, it removed a flag from Puerto Rico and it placed it next to the one of the United States and Texas. In fact, lthe Puerto Rican flag was larger than the other two.
3. He PR-CuNaR2 brings the number 2 to the end because there was a previous study created by the Florida Space Institute that investigated the same phenomenon, but with larger particles. This study was called Nanorocs.
4. The proposal of the PR-CuNaR2 it was delivered days after Hurricane Maria passed through Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was on the verge of missing out on the opportunity to have a satellite in space due to the destruction caused by Maria, which affected electricity service and the lack of Internet across the country. The proposal was approved by NASA in March 2018.
5. The original release of the PR-CuNaR2 it was scheduled for 2020 and was postponed to this year, due to the pandemic.