The space telescope that ANYONE can use to hunt for asteroids or take space ... - Daily Mail

Planetary Resources wants to build and use satellite telescopes to hunt for asteroids orbiting Earth and mine them for precious materials Firm using Kickstarter to raise £660,000 to fund project Anyone who donates can then use the telescope to take space photos or hunt for their own asteroids By Victoria Woollaston PUBLISHED: 07:57 EST, 30 May 2013 | UPDATED: 08:20 EST, 30 May 2013 A US space firm is trying to raise £660,000 via crowdfunding site Kickstarter for a private space telescope that could scour asteroids looking for precious metals to mine. Planetary Resources wants to build and use satellite telescopes to hunt for asteroids orbiting Earth before using robotic spacecrafts to mine the asteroids for precious metals, water and other materials. The company has already received backing from Google's founders - but is now asking for members of the public to donate to the project and get involved in hunting for suitable asteroids. An artist's impression of what the ARKYD telescope could look like as it orbits Earth. Washington-based Planetary Resources is asking for public funding to build the small space telescope and use it to hunt for asteroids Anyone who donates to the ARKYD Kickstarter campaign can use the telescope as a 'space photo booth' to send digital photos to the telescope and have them displayed on the side. A remote camera will then be able to take a photo of the image, with the telescope and Earth in the background, and transmit the image back to the sender ARKYD SPACE TELESCOPE SPECIFICATIONS Weight: 15kg Height: 200mm Height when fully deployed: 425mm Wingspan: 600mm Other specifications: Resolving capability: ~ 1 arcsecond Wavelength range: 200 nm to 1100 nm Detection capability: to visual magnitude 19 Available filters: UV bandpass (< 300 nm), B, V, R, OIII, Hα, 1 μm bandpass, Luminence (Clear) 200 mm aperture, f/4 primary optic 5 MP+ image sensor Active image stabilization Planetary Resources also hopes to launch an educational and outreach program to let students, museums, armchair astronomers and virtual travellers share use of a telescope. Using Kickstarter, a website used to raise funds for creative projects, Planetary Resources aims to raise £660,000 ($1million) by 30 June. If there is enough public support, Planetary Resources plans to launch its first telescope, called the ARKYD by 2015. ARKYD is based on Arakyd Industries - a driod manufacturer in Star Wars. Anyone who pledges £16.50 ($25) can use the telescope as a 'space photo booth'. This involves sending a picture to the telescope, which is then displayed on the side of it like a billboard with Earth in the background.  A remote camera will then take a photo of the image, with the space in the background, and transmit the image back to the sender.  Additionally, anyone who pledges at least £132 ($200) will be allowed to use the telescope to hunt for astronomical objects. Planetary Resources want to use the space telescope to explore the universe and hunt for asteroids. It hopes to get images like those pictured. Planetary Resources will then use a robotic spacecraft to mine any asteroids it finds for precious materials. Anyone who pledges £132 ($200) can also use the orbiting telescope for their own personal hunting missions OTHER SPACE-RELATED CROWDFUNDED CAMPAIGNS Colorado-based Golden Spike wanted to take humans to the moon. It raised £49,000 ($75,000) on Indiegogo to start a sister firm, called Uwingu, designed to funnel profits into space projects, but couldn't raise the £158,000 ($240,000) for spacesuits for Golden Spike's first moon run. Hyper-V Technologies of Virginia used to Kickstarter to raise nearly £48,000 ($73,000). It used the money to help develop a plasma jet electric thruster. Last year, Washington-based LiftPort ended an £5,200 ($8,000) Kickstarter campaign with more than £659,900 ($100,000) to demonstrate how robots could climb a 1.2-mile long tether above a large helium balloon. The company is now working on an alternative space transportation system called a 'space elevator' that uses tethers or cables instead of rockets. Investors already include Google Chief Executive Larry Page and Chairman Eric Schmidt, as well as Ross Perot Jr., chairman of the real estate development firm Hillwood and The Perot Group. 'All we are asking is for the public to tell us that they want something,' company co-founder Eric Anderson told reporters during a webcast press conference on Wednesday. 'We're not going to spend our time and resources to do something if people don't want it and really the only way to prove that it's something people want is to ask them for money,' he said. Planetary Resources is not the first space startup to turn to crowdfunding. Colorado-based Golden Spike, which plans commercial human expeditions to the moon, has launched two initiatives on Indiegogo, another online funding platform. Golden Spike raised £49,000 ($75,000) to start a sister firm, called Uwingu, designed to funnel profits into space projects, but couldn't raise the £158,000 ($240,000) for spacesuits for Golden Spike's first moon run. Hyper-V Technologies of Virginia used to Kickstarter to raise nearly £48,000 ($73,000). It used the money to help develop a plasma jet electric thruster. Engineers at Planetary Resources have already built a prototype of the ARKYD telescope. It weighs 15KG and is 42.5cm tall. The built-in 5MP cameras will work at night and can capture images while it travels at around 5mph Last year, Washington-based LiftPort ended an £5,200 ($8,000) Kickstarter campaign with more than £659,900 ($100,000) to demonstrate how robots could climb a 1.2-mile long tether above a large helium balloon. The company is working on an alternative space transportation system called a 'space elevator' that uses tethers or cables instead of rockets. 'Golden Spike founder and planetary scientist Alan Stern told Reuters: 'I think crowd-funding is a new kind of bike and people are trying and willing to ride it, some successfully, some not as successfully, but I think it's here to stay,' . 'These companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo and RocketHub, they seem to be some kind of marketing distribution system that lets people with an idea put it out there. 'Previously people didn't know how to do that except run an ad in a newspaper. It's a capability we just didn't have five years ago.' Share or comment on this article Pictured: The shocking wound that caused a fisherman to... Grandfather, 72 shot dead in his own driveway by police... First pornographic app for Google Glass set to launch... 'She's an uncaring, mean-spirited person': Ann Curry branded... Furnished homes, luxury vacations and four YEAR maternity... Katie Couric says that the Today Show wanted her back during... 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