You can take a selfie with the Earth using this YouTuber’s satellite

The stunt escalation connected YouTube whitethorn person reached caller heights pinch Mark Rober’s connection to threat anyone’s selfie pinch the satellite Earth utilizing a outer he’s launching into orbit pinch the thief of Google and T-Mobile.

Rober is simply a erstwhile NASA technologist who made a sanction for himself connected YouTube by glitter bombing structure pirates, creating the world’s largest Super Soaker, and building an obstacle people for squirrels. Now he’s merging his interests pinch the motorboat of a outer that tin return photos of anyone’s image displayed connected a Google Pixel pinch the Earth — yes, Planet Earth — successful the background.

If you show Rober wherever you live, he claims that he’ll return the selfie while the outer is located complete your city, and he’ll show you precisely erstwhile the photograph is going to beryllium taken, truthful you tin spell extracurricular and technically get successful the changeable twice. The outer is scheduled to beryllium launched by SpaceX successful January 2025 (aboard the Transporter 12 mission), and is group to commencement taking selfie photos a fewer months aft that.

Yes, it’s a full gimmick, and while Rober and T-Mobile are advertizing the opportunity arsenic “free,” I regret to pass you that location are immoderate strings attached. You’ll request to subscribe to CrunchLabs, which offers engineering-build kits for kids, to get the free codification for the outer selfie. (CrunchLab subscriptions tally betwixt $25-$80 annually, depending connected the selected package.) Existing T-Mobile subscribers tin besides get a free codification via the T-Life app, and Google Pixel customers are being offered codes arsenic well.

Codes tin beryllium redeemed starting December 3rd at spaceselfie.com. You’ll beryllium directed to upload your selfie, aft which you’ll person an email allowing you to way erstwhile your selfie will beryllium taken.

Rober has a full YouTube video explaining the mechanics of the selfie-taking satellite. There are really 2 cameras and 2 Google Pixel phones mounted connected either broadside of the outer for redundancy, and the full point is powered by an expansive star array, sending power to a 120Wh artillery pack.

This really creates a unsocial problem for the satellite, which needs to beryllium facing astatine slightest 3 different ways for star power collection, selfie taking, and the sending and receiving of pictures — pinch nary propellors aliases thrusters to thief alteration positions. To lick this, Rober’s squad installed a flywheel wrong the outer to thief it alteration positions depending connected which action it’s performing. Pretty smart.