mur.sat

A team of about 15 people around mur.at (Graz/Austria) builds its first picosatellite called mursat1, based on the knowledge of Interorbital Systems, IOS, and developped further following our research requests. In 2011, mursat1 will be sent into space. We expand Public Space - noncommercial, noninstitutional, experimental, researching and exploring - to see, hear, test, send, receive, and perform.

In the timespan of one century, the space outside earth has been integrated smoothly and without friction into economic utilization processes. In order to counterbalance economical procedures that have been employed in the exploration and investigation of space, we vindicate the right to explore and investigate for ourselves. We claim "the" space as "public" space, in which other projections, wishes, concerns, desires, purposes and undertakings of different matter have authority and entitlement. With the move out into space, mur.sat takes the opportunity to analyse earth from outside. With the development of TubeSat, it has become relatively easy and affordable to send out our own research device. Adding some technical know how, we are able to define a set of tasks that mur.sat should fulfill during his short life time. In some ways, this current situation now is comparable with the 1980ies, beginning of 1990ies, when artists experimented with connected computers, what is now mostly known as world-wide-web/internet. The excitement is found in exploring new spaces, and getting to know and understand them. Probably one of the main attractions lies in the fact, that in unknown spaces one can formulate new hypothesis and try to find out and explore by one's own wish and curiosity. The strength and empowerment that lies in this possibility, is the subjective approach of individuals - noone can say beforehand if a certain question is relevant. It is also very likely that new questions will come up due to intense work on the matter during the work itself.

At this stage (summer 2011) mursat1 itself will become our performer, taking selfportraits with a camera, transmitting data about his position relative to earth by torquers, receiving and translating particle detection and collision with a piezo microphone, sending compressed audiodata for radio transmission on earth, hosting children's wishes to become a shooting star themselves, counting.

On earth, in the space center in Graz, and optionally on all other sorts of locations, available data will be received and interpreted, in sound, light, temperature installations, to create his sensation of NOW, of present time, and of connectedness to this expansion and extension that surrounds us. Why should only economically potent entities like states or companies be entitled to develop the imagery and broadcast (and thereby define) the ways of perception of the outer world, and of the representations of earth and the universe?