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Kathleen Martin
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Researchers from the College of Engineering at Villanova University are behind a blockchain project that will be launched into space Thursday night to test the viability and trustworthiness of the technology and its transactions in orbit.
Adjunct Professor of Engineering Hasshi Sudler is behind the project, and has been working on space-related projects since his time at the university as an undergrad. But the launch Thursday will be his — and the university’s — first time completing a trip to space.
Sudler is working with grad student Alejandro Gomez on the project. The pair will be testing a recent consensus protocol known as proof of authority, a means of confirming transactions on the blockchain through validator nodes that store data, securing the network. Villanova is working with Teachers in Space, a nonprofit that developed the Serenity educational CubeSat satellite that will launch on the Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha vehicle Thursday night from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Serenity will carry a suite of data collection sensors and provide its data in response to requests by amateur radio operators. The experiment uses a private Ethereum blockchain, and the satellite will remain in low Earth orbit for about a month. Blockchain experiments will take place for the first 15 days. The satellite will be destroyed on its return to earth, but Sudler said they’ll have all the data they need collected and stored on earth.
Continue reading: https://technical.ly/philly/2021/09/02/villanova-blockchain-space/
Adjunct Professor of Engineering Hasshi Sudler is behind the project, and has been working on space-related projects since his time at the university as an undergrad. But the launch Thursday will be his — and the university’s — first time completing a trip to space.
Sudler is working with grad student Alejandro Gomez on the project. The pair will be testing a recent consensus protocol known as proof of authority, a means of confirming transactions on the blockchain through validator nodes that store data, securing the network. Villanova is working with Teachers in Space, a nonprofit that developed the Serenity educational CubeSat satellite that will launch on the Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha vehicle Thursday night from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Serenity will carry a suite of data collection sensors and provide its data in response to requests by amateur radio operators. The experiment uses a private Ethereum blockchain, and the satellite will remain in low Earth orbit for about a month. Blockchain experiments will take place for the first 15 days. The satellite will be destroyed on its return to earth, but Sudler said they’ll have all the data they need collected and stored on earth.
Continue reading: https://technical.ly/philly/2021/09/02/villanova-blockchain-space/
