Death Star in Space

Lets launch a miniature Death Star into space to celebrate Star Wars: Episode X

Using a 5.5 meter Blackstar Orbital Space Drone (previously a United Frontiers Discovery rocket), we will be launching a 10 centimeter diameter spherical space station to 110 km, which is above the Kármán line - the official definition of outer space. At the core of the space station will be 50 Kickstarter backer names etched & gold plated onto a Jedi blue, Ahsoka Tano white, or Sith red colored printed circuit board. Each of these Earthling backers will receive their name as a space flown souvenir after the mission. Up to 2000 additional names will also be stored on a memory chip headed to space. After a zero-G free fall of 5 minutes and a parachute landing, one backer will receive a fully operational space station that has been to space and traveled at over 2400 m/s (5370 miles per hour)!

1. Watch our promo video: https://youtu.be/Dxnh5BiHv4g
2. Explore a 3D model: https://bit.ly/DSiS-3D-SketchFab-Model
3. Review the Bill of Material (BOM): https://bit.ly/DSiS-BOM
4. New technical website coming soon: www.deathstarinspace.com/engineering
5. Initial planning google Doc https://goo.gl/VPZJBm

FUTURE WORK - Send Death Star in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or flyby of the Moon and transmit names and photos to distance stars via lasers.

Software

This Git repo is broken down into the following two folders / directories (PYTHON_Code, SPIN_Code).

1. The PYTHON_Code directory holds prototype code used to test the system on the ground using a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus/
2. The SPIN_Code directory holds the flight code that will be running on a Parallax Propeller 1 microcontroller https://www.parallax.com/product/32810 while the Death Star rides a rocket into space

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PYTHON_Code:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/linux/software/python.md

After downloading our full GitHub repo you can run code in PYTHON_Code directory by completing the following steps:

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the PYTHON_Code using the "cd" command.
2. Run the command "python DeathStarDriver.py" to start Death Star software running.
3. Enter ternimal input as prompted to test individual subsystems.

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SPIN_Code:

https://www.parallax.com/downloads/propelleride-software-windows-spin-pasm-propbasic

After downloading our full GitHub repo you can run code in SPIN_Code directory by completing the following steps:

1. Download and open the Parallax Propeller Tool / IDE (link above).
2. Select menu item: File > Open (Ctrl+O) the DeathStarDriver.SPIN file
3. Select menu item: Project > Write (F11) to programm EEPROM and start Death Star software running.

For faster testing after inital EEPROM write you can use Project > Run (F10) to program volatile RAM.

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Questions? Contact me on X (formely Twitter): @X_BlazeSanders

Donations accepted via Cash App: $blazesanders42