Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!

Have you ever wished you could control a space telescope?

Stupid question; of course you have. Well, maybe just me - but I'm sure at least one other person in the world does, otherwise we wouldn't have ARKYD!

You might ask what ARKYD actually is - so I'll try and tell you. Funded by Planetary Resources, a company hoping to mine asteroids in space, it's a fast, light, efficient and relatively high-resolution space telescope.

Now, that would be awesome enough in itself for me, because I'm a space nerd. What makes it even more awesome is that its aim is to be the first publicly accessible space telescope, with classrooms, scientists, researchers and even a wastrel like me all getting a say in what the telescope does, where to point it, and who takes the pictures. In short, science controlled by the public.

This is fantastic on so many different levels: firstly, it opens up knowledge. As a nerd, I always have trouble learning more because I come up against the paywalls that block off so much of academia. With any luck, ARKYD will be free from that.

Secondly, it encourages the public to engage with and make science from a very young age, as even primary school classrooms theoretically have access to and control of the telescope. This helps non-scientists of all ages to understand just how science works and hopefully to get future generations interested in science.

Planetary Resources are funding this on Kickstarter and aim to raise $1 million by the 30th of June, and they're already more than halfway there. $1 is the minimum donation so if you're at all interested, chip in!

(and if that still hasn't convinced you, they offer various goodies and rewards for certain amounts...)