…what extent do Gravity Waves influence the coupling of the Earth’s upper atmosphere and the lower ionosphere/mesosphere/thermosphere.
The Virgin Tech team led the LAICE CubeSat project but they were
unable to attain an FCC license and therefore LAICE has been shelved indefinitely. The 2013 National Academy Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey Key Science Goal 2 has made this an attractive opportunity as launch and operation of the LAICE CubeSat will address key aspects of the goal.
Diagram of the Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE) CubeSat. Credits: LAICE Overview presentation
The University Würzburg Experimental Satellite 4 has four 160-gram Morpheus Nano Field Effect Electric Propulsion (NanoFEEP) thrusters integrated in its rails, facing the same direction. In May, mission controllers fired the thrusters, which combine a liquid gallium propellant with a chip-based neutralizer, for slightly more than six minutes.
While the thrusters fired, the satellite’s rotation increased from approximately 1.7 degrees per second to more than four degrees per second, according to “Hybrid attitude control on-board UWE-4 using magnetorquers and the electric propulsion system NanoFEEP,” by Alexander Kramer, Philip Bangert and Klaus Schilling of University Würzburg.
“UWE‑4 with Thrusters, Neutralizer and a new kind of sun sensors on each panel.” – University Würzburg
This week’s episode of NASA’s Space to Ground report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Northrop Grumman 11 Cygnus Release August 06, 2019
An unpiloted Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft departed the International Space Station August 6, bound for several months of free-flying scientific investigation support before it is deorbited later this year. Expedition 60 Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA used the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release Cygnus after it was unberthed from the Earth-facing port of the Unity module by robotic flight controllers following more than three months attached to the orbital outpost. Cygnus is being used as a platform to deploy a number of small nanosatellites during its extended stay in orbit. The vehicle is scheduled to be deorbited in December to burn up harmlessly in Earth’s atmosphere.
** Spacecast Weekly – August 9, 2019
SpaceCast Weekly is a NASA Television broadcast from the Johnson Space Center in Houston featuring stories about NASA’s work in human spaceflight, including the International Space Station and its crews and scientific research activities, and the development of Orion and the Space Launch System, the next generation American spacecraft being built to take humans farther into space than they’ve ever gone before.
** Expedition 60 Inflight with Slover Library August 9, 2019
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 60 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA discussed life and research on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight educational event August 9 with students gathered at the Slover Library in Norfolk, Virginia. Hague is in the midst of a long-duration mission on the station.
** NASA Live: Earth From Space – Nasa Live Stream | ISS LIVE FEED
Mann says student help is very valuable when it comes to design and creation. Senior Patrick Gorman is working on the research through the summer, currently designing the chassis and antenna for the CubeSat. He’s the president of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space organization on campus and the project appealed to him because of the variety of work he can do.
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Mann says one of the reasons he’s happy the university guided him to making the satellite is the learning opportunity it provides to students like Gorman.
“Think how much more beneficial this is to a student who helped build something and gets to see it launch rather than get to see something else launch that someone else built. It’s much more satisfying for people involved, which I think is better for the education aspect of the program here.”
Mann says the prototype of the satellite should be complete in the next year, with the first launch of their CubeSat expected in two years.
After meeting all its benchmarks for demonstrating small-satellite weather forecasting capabilities during its first 90 days, a Colorado State University experimental satellite is operating after more than one year in low-Earth orbit.
TEMPEST-D (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems – Demonstration), a type of small satellite called a 6U CubeSat, is still providing precise images of global weather – exceeding the expectations of even its engineers.
TEMPEST-D is about the size of an Oxford dictionary and was deployed from the International Space Station last July carrying a miniaturized microwave radiometer. Measuring at five frequencies, TEMPEST-D can see through clouds to reveal the interior of storms where raindrops and ice crystals form.
Pauline Faure, assistant professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department, and Maria Pantoja, assistant professor in the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department, each received a $25,000 award. The awards recognize faculty members who contribute new knowledge in the field of engineering; partner with industry; involve students with advanced ideas; and enhance teaching by introducing state-of-the-art topics in the classroom.
The awards provide time and resources for professional growth and development to enrich the educational experiences of Cal Poly students. In addition to their mini satellite work, the faculty members also plan to expand the use of parallel computing to study earthquakes, Hawaiian bird calls and wine production.
Faure said her main goal is to facilitate access to space to more people through STEM education, using mini-satellites called CubeSats as a tool.
“This is important because space is supposed to be available to all nations regardless of the hardships they might be facing,” she said. “Yet, space has a reputation of being inaccessible, complex and expensive.”
CubeSats, co-created by retired Cal Poly faculty member Jordi Puig-Suari, have allowed students and private citizens worldwide to become more involved in space research. Several CubeSats developed at Cal Poly have been launched into space.
Here is the latest episode of NASA’s Space to Ground reports on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Space Grown Crystals Offer Clarity on Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease affects more than 5 million people on Earth. Research on the International Space Station could provide insight into this chronic neurodegenerative disease and help scientists find ways to treat and prevent it. In this video, NASA astronaut Serena Auñon-Chancellor narrates as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Alexander Gerst uses a microscope to examine and photograph the LRRK2 crystals.
** Expedition 60 crewmembers talks with The Weather Channel
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 60 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA and newly arrived crew member Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency discussed life in space aboard the orbital outpost and their view of meteorological phenomena from 254 miles above Earth during an in-flight interview July 31 with the Weather Channel. The two crewmembers are in various stages of long-duration missions on the complex.
** Progress 73 Arrives to the ISS
Traveling about 259 miles over China, the unpiloted Russian Progress 73 cargo ship docked at 11:29 a.m. EDT to the Pirs docking compartment on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
A tiny satellite under construction at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) could open new horizons in space exploration. Princeton University students are building the device, a cubic satellite or “CubeSat,” as a testbed for a miniaturized rocket thruster with unique capabilities being developed at PPPL.
The CubeSat’s thruster, whose development is led by PPPL physicist Yevgeny Raitses, holds the promise of increased flexibility for the tiny satellites, more than a thousand of which have been launched by universities, research centers and commercial interests around the world. The proposed propulsion device — powered by plasma — could raise and lower the orbits of CubeSats circling the Earth, a capability not broadly available to small spacecraft today, and would hold the potential for exploration of deep space.
“Essentially, we will be able to use these miniature thrusters for many missions,” Raitses said.
Princeton graduate and undergraduate students gather with advisors around model of the CubeSat chassis. From left: Jacob Simmonds, Jerry Xiang, Nirbhav Chopra, Daniel Marlow, Yevgeny Raitses, Seth Freeman, Matthew Bledsoe and Daniel Piatek (Seton Hall student). Photo byElle Starkman, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
With some help from experts from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), the undergraduate students are inching closer to designing their one-of-its-kind nano-sat equipped with a special camera that will help study the earth’s surface for response during natural hazards and track carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Christened Team Anant, the group comprises of students from all engineering branches and batches at the Rajasthan-based institute. So far, the students have developed a prototype for their payload, built one of the antennas for their ground station and integrated it with their transceiver to track signals from the International Space Station.
“Our nano-satellite will be the first in India to use hyperspectral imager. Globally, only two other nano-satellites have used such an imager,” said Kaushley Mehra, a member of the publicity group of Team Anant. The `1 crore project is being funded by BITS, Pilani, while the Isro is expected to bear the `20 lakh cost of satellite launch once an MoU is signed as part of the Union government’s push to encourage research. “The cost of components and basic supplies is borne partly by the institute and by sponsors,” said Mehra, adding that their team is looking for as many sponsors as possible.
The IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) has announced the MTT-Sat Challenge for groups of students developing RF hardware for CubeSat applications. The MTT-Sat Challenge is a worldwide competition for teams of undergraduate and graduate students to design and build RF hardware for small satellites. The most promising designs will undergo space environmental qualification testing and could be incorporated into an actual CubeSat.
“The main goal of the MTT-Sat Challenge is to advance space RF and microwave education, inspire students to pursue science and engineering education and careers, and prepare tomorrow’s leaders with the interdisciplinary teamwork skills, which are necessary for success,” the society said in announcing the competition. The MTT-Sat Challenge is intended to run over 4 academic years (starting in June 2019) and is divided into several phases spanning overall technology readiness levels. Proposals may be submitted for every single phase.
… students from Colorado and across the world will continue that legacy of exploration via the Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone (GLEE), a space mission led by NASA’s New York and Colorado Space Grant Consortium. Inspired by the Apollo moon landings, the project will send 500 spacecraft small enough to fit in the palm of your hand to the moon by 2023.
These “LunaSats,” each of which will cost less than $200, will collect valuable data on conditions at the lunar surface. They’ll be designed and built by students, said Chris Koehler, director of the Colorado Space Grant Consortium, which is based at CU Boulder.
“As we all celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, let us tell the world we are going to the moon with a new mission conducted by students from countries across the globe, and we will be there by 2023,” Koehler said.
Future University (formerly known as Computer Man College), which is the first specialised Information and communications technology university in Sudan, offers undergraduate and graduate programmes in space science and engineering, run by the Faculty of Telecommunications and Space Technology. The University hosts Sudan’s first Space Technology Centre, which was established in 2000. The Centre recently started a CubeSat project, following years of research and development in remote sensing and space physics.
The University of Khartoum(UofK) runs what is arguably Sudan’s most advanced satellite programme. The University’s satellite programme began in October 2010 with a CubeSat project at the Electrical and Electronics Department. In 2014, the University established a specialised Space Research Centre to coordinate all space-related activities across various departments of the University. So far, the University has designed and fabricated two CubeSat prototypes – KN-Sat1 and UOKSat-2 – and has successfully installed an operational ground station to track satellites and analyse geospatial data.
LibertyQube-1 – PocketQube developed by Libertylife LLC of Japan.
Today we announce the 1st PocketQube manifested on Alba Cluster 3, LibertyQube-1 a 1p from Liberty Life LLC in Japan. LibertyQube-1 becomes the first ever Asian PocketQube to be manifested and we are excited to be their launch partner! https://t.co/qZni2Hrf3Apic.twitter.com/ylAeOoOVVl
