science

SuitSat

SuitSat is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SuitSat rather than just read about it. In short: SuitSat (also known as SuitSat-1, Mr. Smith, Ivan Ivanovich, RadioSkaf, Radio Sputnik, and AMSAT-OSCAR 54) was a retired Russian Orlan space suit with a radio transmitter mounted on its helmet, used as a hand-launched satellite.

Key takeaways

SuitSat belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SuitSat to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SuitSat from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SuitSat (also known as SuitSat-1, Mr. Smith, Ivan Ivanovich, RadioSkaf, Radio Sputnik, and AMSAT-OSCAR 54) was a retired Russian Orlan space suit with a radio transmitter mounted on its helmet, used as a hand-launched satellite. First devised around 2004, SuitSat-1 was deployed in an ephemeral orbit around the Earth from the International Space Station on February 3, 2006. Contact from SuitSat-1 was lost by February 18, and the satellite burned up on reentry in Earth's atmosphere on September 7. A similar hand-launched satellite, Kedr, was released in 2011 and was initially named SuitSat-2, despite not using a space suit.

SuitSat-1 The idea for this OSCAR satellite was first formally discussed at an AMSAT symposium in October 2004, although the ARISS-Russia team is credited with coming up with the idea as a commemorative gesture for the 175th anniversary of the Moscow State Technical University. According to Frank Bauer of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, a group of Russian researchers led by Sergey Samburov devised the idea of converting disused space suits into satellites. In a move originally planned for December 6, 2005, SuitSat-1 entered its own independent orbit just after 23:05 UTC on February 3, 2006, when it was released from the International Space Station by Valeri Tokarev and Bill McArthur as part of an unrelated spacewalk. Voice messages recorded by the teams involved, and by students from around the globe, were continuously broadcast in a number of languages from the SuitSat, along with telemetry data. The signal began transmission approximately 15 minutes after SuitSat-1 was jettisoned and was relayed by equipment on board the ISS. Anyone receiving the transmission could log an entry on the tracker at suitsat.org, detailing when and where they heard it. The SuitSat-1 mission was not a total success. There were very few reports that actually confirmed the receiving of the transmission. NASA TV later announced that SuitSat ceased functioning after only two orbits due to battery failure, but there were reports suggesting that SuitSat-1 continued transmitting, albeit far more weakly than expected. The official designation for SuitSat is AMSAT-OSCAR 54, though it was nicknamed "Ivan Ivanovich" or "Mr. Smith". The radio transmitter used a frequency of 145.990 MHz. The last confirmed signal report from SuitSat-1 was the report of KC7GZC on February 18, 2006. All later reports indicate that no signal was received when SuitSat-1 was due to pass over. On September 7, 2006, at 16:00 GMT, SuitSat reentered the Earth's atmosphere over the Southern Ocean at 110.4° East longitude and 46.3° South latitude. It was over a point some 1,400 km south-southwest of Cape Leeuwin, Australia.

ARISSat-1 (formerly SuitSat-2)

ARISSat-1, formerly SuitSat-2 and also known as Kedr, was another ISS hand-launched satellite. It contained experiments built by students and a software-defined radio capable of supporting a U/v (UHF uplink; VHF downlink) linear transponder, FM telemetry, voice recordings and live SSTV imagery. Unlike SuitSat-1, batteries on ARISSat-1 were charged by solar panels, and had a predicted lifetime of up to six months (an interval during which it was expected to deorbit). Kedr was deployed from the ISS by Sergey Volkov on 3 August 2011, and re-entered Earth's atmosphere in January 2012, having spent 154 days in orbit.

In popular culture Decommissioned, a 2021 short film, depicts SuitSat as a haunted entity that gains sentience and attacks the ISS. The short won a finalist position in a filmmaking competition using the Unreal Engine. SuitSat, a 2018 short film, imagines what SuitSat sees as it orbits Earth as a ghost. The film won a Space Award and was voiced by Gruff Rhys. A SuitSat was also feature in the popular KDrama, When the Stars Gossip, scaring the main character as he thinks it is a dead astronaut.

References

External links

Microchip in Space - NASA Releases SuitSat-1 with PIC18 Microcontroller AMSAT satellite detail suitsat.org Russian site about SuitSat satellite series Archived 2011-02-24 at the Wayback Machine SuitSat Audio Recordings and Updates - AJ3U.com NASA press release: "SuitSat: Using a simple police scanner or ham radio, you can listen to a disembodied spacesuit circling Earth." NASA Releases SuitSat 1 includes video and technical details "SuitSat-2 Now Called ARISSat-1"

Illustrations

SuitSat: Launch of SuitSat-1 (seen on the right; an astronaut is the figure on the left) — Launch of SuitSat-1 (seen on the right; an astronaut is the figure on the left)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SuitSat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SuitSat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SuitSat before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SuitSat ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SuitSat

In research: SuitSat appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SuitSat in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SuitSat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2005 in spaceflight, Amateur radio satellites, Satellites deployed from the International Space Station, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SuitSat outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SuitSat in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SuitSat means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SuitSat out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SuitSat in simple terms?

Why does SuitSat matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SuitSat?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SuitSat.