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- These little CubeSats

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are revolutionizing
satellite science.

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But do you think something
this small

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is big enough to help NASA
gather science data?

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Let's find out.

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- We currently have an Earth
orbiting satellite

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called RAVAN; it's been
up there for about a year.

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RAVAN stands for
Radiometer Assessment

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of Vertically Aligned
Carbon Nanotubes.

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So RAVAN measures the Earth's
radiation imbalance.

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So how much energy is getting
absorbed by the Earth

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and how much
gets reflected back.

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That's a big question that's
an important parameter

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for climate science.

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RAVAN serves as a pathfinder

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for Constellation.

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The idea is to put
a constellation

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of these small satellites
around the globe

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so you can get simultaneous
measurements

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of the radiation reflecting
back out into space.

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The future of CubeSats
is very bright.

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The more that we demonstrate
technologies,

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the more we can incorporate
into science

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and the more CubeSats
can go up

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and take simultaneous data.

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For example, you could have
simultaneous global measurements

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around the Earth, measuring
things that you could never

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have imagined before.

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With the Swarm of CubeSats,
we could have rapid refresh

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over natural disasters,

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such as cyclones
or hurricanes.

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The advantage of swarming,
over typical satellite,

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is that you don't have to send
commands up and down

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because they already know
what to do next.

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- CubeSats are changing
the way

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we are collecting information

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and allowing more and more
people access to space

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because they are less expensive.

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Kids like you and me
have opportunities

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to get involved by designing
and building our own CubeSats

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that could be launched
by NASA.

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Want to know more?

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Check out this site and click on

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the NASA CubeSat
Launch Initiative, or CSLI.

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They might be small,
but CubeSats are providing

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answers to big questions.

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That's all for now.

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See you next time
on NASA eClips.

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