The AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) amateur radio satellite was launched in 1974, expected to last 5 years, but a battery failure meant it had to run off of its solar panels. It's still operating.

@RegularJoe@lemmy.world · 10 days ago

The AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) amateur radio satellite was launched in 1974, expected to last 5 years, but a battery failure meant it had to run off of its solar panels. It's still operating.

Abstracted · 10 days ago

This is awesome! With all the bad news permeating the interwebs lately, this makes me happy for some reason…

fraksken · 10 days ago

How does an amateur radio satellite get made? How does it get launched?

Who pays for that? No /s. Genuinly interested.

@JasonDJ@lemmy.zip · 10 days ago

I work for a lab in the US. We do a lot of things, but among them space and defense. Literal rocket scientists. A lot of old-school hackers. Like not Hollywood movie “hackers”, I mean the type of people that take great pleasure in making something functional out of miscellaneous junk.

Among them, there is a surprisingly large number of licensed hams. Myself included.

Idk where I’m going with this. But there’s an overlap between “space nerds”, “radio nerds”, and “tech macgyvers”, so they find a way.

The AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) amateur radio satellite was launched in 1974, expected to last 5 years, but a battery failure meant it had to run off of its solar panels. It's still operating.

The AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) amateur radio satellite was launched in 1974, expected to last 5 years, but a battery failure meant it had to run off of its solar panels. It's still operating.

AMSAT-OSCAR 7: The Ham Satellite That Refused To Die