Cretan Astronaut project is the first mission to space from Crete. Specifically, our goal is to send a ship to space, which consists of a fully reusable structure. The course of the ship will be recorded with a 360-degree field of view camera.
The story behind our dream
On August 12, 1960, NASA launched the world’s first communications satellite, Echo 1, onboard a Thor-Delta rocket. Echo, designed and built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, was unique in that it was not a satellite in a conventional sense; it was a huge balloon.
On June 21, 2004, Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne became the first private vehicle to reach space. These two technologies – private spaceflight and high-altitude balloons – are being combined by hobbyists worldwide to capture photographs from the stratosphere, 30 km into the skies.
Who we are?
We are a team of aerospace enthusiasts who are attempting to photograph the Earth from near space utilizing high altitude weather balloons. Specifically, we are a team of students from the Technical University of Crete and National Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Team members:
Alexander Poupakis – Electrical Engineer
Thanos Paraschos – Business Developer
Dimitris Theodosiou – Mechanical Engineer
Billy Kottas – Marketing Administration
John Antoniou – Graphic Designer / Web Developer
Our Goal
Cretan astronaut goal is to document the whole journey of the balloon from Earth until Space. But also to collect the meteorological data exactly as a Meteorological Station. This will offer to us practical experience with aerospace technology which is unique for any student. Also, our project is the first of its kind in since we are the first who will send a meteorological balloon with parts which can be reused.
Learn more about the project here: www.cretanastronaut.com