For the first time in history, an independent crew is taking control of a NASA satellite and running a crowdfunded mission. They’re doing it all from a makeshift mission control center in an abandoned McDonald’s in Mountain View, CA, using old radio parts from eBay and a salvaged flat screen TV.
The headline on Betabeat is needlessly sensationalistic; "Civilians in Abandoned McDonald’s Seize Control of Wandering Space Satellite" makes it sound like the group was not working with NASA's blessing. Regardless, this is incredible. Another step toward the democratization of space.