What do you know! It's getting there, slowly slowly!
We have some super exciting news. The prototype Dandelions-1 is nearly ready for its testing phase.
Hang on - what are we talking about? So, if you have not been keeping up with the story so far...
Earlier this year, we won the Waratah Seed Ride Sharing Mission, and Dandelions-1 is going to be our little baby heading into the great beyond.
You can read our previous announcements about winning a place in the Waratah Seed Ride Sharing Mission in the two posts below.
In this blog post, we will be talking about where we are, and what are the next steps. But first, a quick recap...
Waratah Seed Ride Sharing Mission And Dandelions-1
Waratah Seed is a programme funded by the good people at Investment NSW, and brings together several academic and industry participants including ACSER, CUAVA, Delta-V and Saber Astronautics.
Principally, it is what is known as a ride-share mission, and Dandelions is very proud to be part of this mission.
Dandelions-1 is a scientific experiment, where we are looking at bio-degradable composites (stay tuned for more information) and the applications of these composites in aerospace applications.
So... the big reveal... what does Dandelions-1 look like?
Isn't she so pretty!
Dandelions-1 Is Beautiful!
Ok - so this is the humblebrag section of this blog post. Bugger that, we are super proud of the work we have managed to pull off.
Let's get some more pictures...
It's so neat! Opening her up a little, prior to assembly...
You can see the bottom section where the scientific experiment sits, and the top section where the electronics sits - essentially this gets folded in to make the nice cube sat structure!
Our Team
A big shout out to the people who made this happen, the team led by Harindi Perera running electronics, Jake Sheath doing a lot of the manufacturing and assembly work, and ably assisted by Jamie Dale who is looking after the experiment happening on Dandelions-1!
Special mention to Vidisha Gosai and Abishek Shrestha who worked tirelessly with the composite manufacturer, and Lea Molnar for looking after the team while they were making this happen!
Here is a picture of Jamie, Jake and Harindi - enjoying burgers with super awesome paprika fries - just after the final assembly was complete!
Summary
So what happens next? Well - our little girl is going to go for a series of tests, we are super excited about these, and we will be bringing you more information about this as it happens.
Up in the next few weeks - the shaker test - where we shake Dandelions-1 very hard to simulate the journey to space on a rocket ship!
We are super excited about how Dandelions-1 is shaping up, and are very very grateful for all the support we have received from way too many people to mention!
You are all brilliant, and we are very keen on engaging with you as our little dream takes to the skies - thank you for everything!
