Who gets to do space? With Firefly, you do!

People speak longingly about the space program of yore. NASA made this huge leap to the moon, and if we can only get the country to rally like that again, then maybe we'll get that future in space we all imagined. That might work. But advances in technology have created another possible path to exploration of the Universe.

You. - Michael Doornbos

Kentucky Space has created an electronics prototyping board meant to give amateur coders and makers a method to experiment with their own space-related applications. Licensed to Evadot.com, Michael Doornbos has just launched the project on Kickstarter to raise funding to have the boards manufactured.

"Firefly" mimics some of the key features of spacecraft development in a four-inch by four-inch prototyping area, the outward dimensions of the extremely popular Cubesat. Because coders can use the Arduino development environment to create and download sketches to the board, Firefly will be familiar to anyone who works with Arduino.

Kentucky Space is using it initially in its active high altitude balloon program.

The board is free from ITAR restrictions, though if you use it as the brains for your project in orbit, ITAR may still apply.

Firefly will be the featured board at the Cubesat Space Hackers Workshop in San Jose, California, scheduled for Oct. 26 - 28. Bob Twiggs, the creator of the Cubesat, will discuss the development and execution of low cost space missions at the workshop.

Advances in technology have created another possible path to the exploration of the Universe. You.

Do you think outside the atmosphere?

Wayne