links for 2009-12-09

• Small Satellite Conference: Elements of New Space Systems (Utah State University, 2009)
  (tags: cubesat conference)
• SwissCube, the first all-Swiss satellite, designed by university students and built entirely in Switzerland, has been successfully launched from a site in India. - swissinfo
  "The EPFL also wants to build on the success of SwissCube and already has a number of space projects up its sleeve. "We want to develop a niche area and build slightly bigger satellites up to 10kg," said Borgeaud. "With those you can do some amazing things but at reduced costs." It is presently in discussion with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to see how its observational requirements can be met by small satellites. There is also an interest in using the tiny devices in the fields of astronomy and planetary science, where Switzerland is a world leader."
  (tags: swisscube cubesat space spaceweather science)
• Switzerland Sends Its First Satellite Into Space
  "The size and budget constraints have led to several innovations that may be used in future commercial satellites. For example, the engineers had to develop a more efficient system of copper contacts connecting the solar cells to the walls of the satellite to conduct electricity to the interior. By playing with the size, form, and spacing of these contacts, the team developed a new method which is both efficient and inexpensive."
  (tags: cube)
• Space For All - The HobbySpace Log » POPACS - participatory science satellite project
  "Gil Moore, a satellite pioneer and the force behind the Starshine educational satellite project, describes the new polar orbiting passive atmospheric calibration satellite (POPACS) project."
  (tags: cubesat thermosphere spaceweather)
• Morehead State University - News: News Release - Satellite pioneer joins Morehead State’s space science faculty
  "POPACS (Polar Orbiting Passive Atmospheric Calibration Sphere, is a 3-unit cubesat with cold gas propulsion in elliptical 1,500 km. orbit which will be the first cubesat built using a 3-D printer. POPACS will be launched in 2012 by the Air Force Space Test Program."
  (tags: space cubesat 3dprinting rapid_protoyping)
• Storytelling’s Value for Management: Review of Charles Jacobs, Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn’t Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science
  "In this upside-down, counterintuitive world, where actions often produce outcomes that are the opposite of those intended... managers have to think less like Aristotle and more like Socrates. The vehicle for progress, in other words, is not the answer reached through logic but the question addressed through stories.... Managers need to reach back to the most ancient learning tool we have — the compelling narrative that engages us. The role of emotion in decision making, after decades of denigration by management theorists, turns out to be prime, in light of the recent research. It is impossible for us to make decisions if there is no emotional component to the process. Only stories can bring together context, relationships, and the emotional mind — the essential ingredients of this new approach, where the environment is seen as a source of opportunity to create the behavior one desires. These are also the ingredients of great strategy."
  (tags: books management organizations stories planning strategy)
• Sir David King and Sandy Thomas, "Taking Science Out of the Box: Foresight Recast," Science 316 (5832): 1701-1702.
  "Science belongs at the heart of good government, but too often it is relegated to the political sidelines. The problem comes from both sides: scientists who do not know how to convey their expertise to a wider world and politicians who are not convinced that it is worth their while to listen. For the past 5 years, a new program has been running in Britain that aims to bridge this gap. The program has demonstrated that when scientists speak clearly to a receptive political audience, the result can be highly effective."
  (tags: future methodology science futureofscience deltascan scenarios)