U of A students to make contact with Alberta's first satellite

First,there will be an audible hiss and murmur of static, like an untuned radio signal. Then silence.

Finally, abeep will sound at around 11 p.m. Friday.

That will be thesignalfrom space, communicating with an Edmonton ground station operated by the University of Alberta students who built Alberta's firstsatellite, the Ex-Alta 1.

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"Right afterwards we were able to go and seeoutside," said CharlesNokes, manager of the satellite project.

"The International Space Station flew over Edmonton and the sun was reflecting off of the solar panels and we were able to see it like a little star just flying across the sky and we knew our little satellite was right next to it."

It has been quite a journey for the bread box-sizedsatellite.

Students at the University of Alberta have beenworking on theAlbertaSatprojectsince 2010. The satellite launched from NASA's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in mid-April.

Many who got involved weren't even surethey could pull it off.

"I said, 'There is no way.Students can't do thatit's impossible,' " satellite operator and studentTyler Hrynyksaid.

"After I saw the caliber of people that I got to work withundergraduate students were just so dialled in and tenacious in reaching their goals it wasn't long before I completely 100 per centbought in and realized that these guys are going to do it and I want to be a part of it."

Students from different disciplines at the university have dedicated years of work to the project.

Theybuilt componentsusing open sourcematerials and technology, with a limited budget.

One of the goals of the project participants is to help others get involved in space exploration by sharing what they have learned.

Ex-Alta1 will be involved with space weather studies in the lowerthermosphere.

"Now the journey has really started and now the real work begins," saidHrynyk. "This is really where the mission really starts."