Sprite SAT （スプライト観測衛星）Space Art Exhibition in Microscale

SPRITE-SAT exhibition

Developed by Tohoku University, Japan, the primary mission of the satellite SPRITE-SAT is a scientific study of lightening phenomena above the cloud layers, in addition, using this opportunity, university is also organizing the first art exhibition in outer space! 40 monochrome digital drawings were submitted from invited artists from 14 different countries. These art pieces were miniaturized and fabricated on a silicon wafer using photolithography and dry-etching technology. The photolithography and etching process was done on a standard silicon wafer, so that each art piece has a 2.5 by 2.5 millimeters (minimum dot size is 5 micron). The art pieces are currently exhibited in orbit attached on the top of an antenna boom on the top of the satellite.

Pell gratefully acknowledges the invition to contribute a piece for this exhibition from Space Artist Ayako Ono.

SPRITE-SAT mission

A nickname "RISING" was given to the SPRITE-SAT. "RA-I-JI-N" is the god of thunder and lightning in Japanese mythology. The nickname plays on the similar sound of the English word "rising" and the Japanese god "Raijin." The SPRITE-SAT (RISING) will observe upper-atmospheric lightnings called "sprites", as well as terrestrial Gamma-ray flashes (TGF) and very-low frequency (VLF) electric waves, possibly generated by the lightnings. If successful, both looking down images of sprites from outer space and the simultaneous observation of TGF and VLF will be world-first achievements.