Merritt Island high school students have been working on building a CubeSat. Affectionately referred to as the “StangSat” — after Merritt Island High’s nickname, the Mustangs — a handful of Merritt Island High students and their NASA mentors are adding finishing touches to a prototype that will soon be tested on a Prospector 18 rocket.

“It means so much, it’s going to be so amazing, I’m looking forward to seeing the satellite she helped design and build launch in the Mojave Desert. I can’t wait.”

— Briana Luthman, 17

“It means so much, it’s going to be so amazing,” said Briana Luthman, 17, looking forward to seeing the satellite she helped design and build launch in the Mojave Desert. “I can’t wait.”

The high school is partnering with students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. The Cal-Poly CubeSat, dubbed CP9, is actually two cubes that contain accelerometers, plus a radio to transmit data back to Earth for the high school students to analyze. The Merritt Island High School cubesat, named StangSat, will stream data to the CP9 in real time during the launch using Wi-Fi.

“We’re going to be demonstrating that wireless transmissions inside the P-POD aren’t going to harm the launch,” said Adam Darley, a senior at Cal-Poly who is serving as the CP9 project manager. “If we can demonstrate that, then it will act as a platform to being able to stream information without a radio link.”

Watch the video and read the full story - http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20130410/SPACE/304100015/Merritt-Island-students-work-NASA-mentors-build-tiny-satellite

MIHS CubeSat on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/MIHS-CubeSat/110920062311996