Category Archives: Space Systems

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Systems

NASA’s PhoneSat 2.4 calls long distance [+ More NASA cubesats]

[ Update: Two other NASA cubesat reports:

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NASA Ames reports on their latest PhoneSat:

NASA’s Latest Space Technology Small Satellite Phones Home

PhoneSat 2.4, NASA’s next generation smartphone cubesat has phoned home. The tiny spacecraft that uses an off-the-shelf smartphone for a brain has completed checkout and sent back data confirming all systems are “go” for the spry spacefarer.

NASA Ames engineers are building PhoneSats
NASA Ames engineers are building PhoneSats, demonstrating how “off the shelf” 
consumer devices can lead to new space exploration capabilities.
Image Credit: NASA Ames Research Center/Dominic Hart

PhoneSat 2.4, a cube approximately four inches square, weighs only about 2.2 pounds, and was developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. It is first of the PhoneSat family to use a two-way S-band radio, allowing engineers to command the satellite from Earth. It is confirming the viability of using smartphones and other commercially available electronics in satellites destined for low-Earth orbit.

“It’s great to hear from NASA’s most recent cubesat spacecraft,” said Michael Gazarik, NASA’s associate administrator for space technology in Washington. “NASA is committed to opening up the high frontier to a new generation of explorers who can take advantage of these sorts of small satellites to do science and technology development at a fraction of the cost of larger, more complex spacecraft.”

In April, NASA successfully demonstrated a one-week mission with PhoneSat 1.0. With an expected orbital lifetime of up to one year, PhoneSat 2.4 will measure how well commercially developed components perform in space over a long period of time. This innovative application of commercially developed technologies for use in space provides for low-cost, low-risk, highly repetitive missions to meet some unique NASA science and exploration needs.

The spacecraft was among 11 agency-sponsored cubesats deployed Nov. 19 by a NASA-built Nanosatellite Launch Adapter System aboard an Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 rocket for the U.S. Air Force from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

PhoneSat 2.4 also will test a system to control the orientation of the cubesat in space. Like the earlier PhoneSat 1, PhoneSat 2.4 uses a Nexus S smartphone made by Samsung Electronics running Google’s Android operating system. Santa Clara University in California is providing the ground station for the mission.

The smartphone provides many of the functions the satellite needs to operate, such as computation, memory, ready-made interfaces for communications, navigation and power, all assembled in a rugged package before launch. Data from the satellite’s subsystems, including the smartphone, the power system and orientation control system are being downlinked over amateur radio at a frequency of 437.425MHz.

The next PhoneSat, version 2.5, is scheduled to launch in February, hitching a ride aboard a commercial SpaceX rocket. That spacecraft also is expected to perform in Earth orbit for several months and continue testing the two-way radio and orientation systems. The PhoneSat Project is managed by the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

The PhoneSat series of missions are pathfinders for NASA’s next Small Spacecraft Technology mission, the Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks (EDSN). The EDSN mission is composed of eight identical 1.5-unit cubesats, which are each approximately 4 inches by 4 inches by 6 inches in size and weighing about 5.5 pounds, that will be deployed during a launch from Kauai, Hawaii in 2014.

The EDSN mission will demonstrate the concept of using many small spacecraft in a coordinated cluster to study the space environment and space-to-space communications techniques. The eight EDSN satellites each will have a Nexus S smartphone for satellite command and data handling, with a scientific instrument added as a payload on each spacecraft.

During EDSN, each cubesat will make science measurements and transmit the data to the others while any one of them can then transmit all of the collected data to a ground station. This versatility in command and control could make possible large swarms of satellites to affordably monitor Earth’s climate, space weather and other global-scale phenomena.

The PhoneSat Project is one of many development projects within NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program, one of nine programs within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The Small Spacecraft Technology Program develops and matures technologies to enhance and expand the capabilities of small spacecraft, with a particular focus on communications, propulsion, pointing, power, and autonomous operations.

For more information about PhoneSat, the Small Spacecraft Technology Program and NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech

For more information about Ames, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ames

Space Settlement, Space Systems

Dava Newman and her Bio-Suits for EVA + Automating space farming

At a TED event this week, Prof. Dava J. Newman of MIT spoke about her skin-tight Bio-Suit designs that would allow for much greater freedom of motion and comfort for walkers in space, on a moon, on Mars, etc.:

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“Behold, a slim-fitting spacesuit to let astronauts move in space.”

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Farming in space and on earth: Air, water, energy and food in a nutshell: Space exploration as driver for sustainable robotic agriculture – Robohub

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Radio, Space Systems

Four student built cubesats launched on Atlas V

The Atlas V that launched last night carried 12 cubesats in addition to its primary spysat payload and four of these cubesats were built by students:

With help from NASA, four student-built CubeSat research satellites launched into space Friday from the California coast as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative.

The CubeSats were included as auxiliary payloads aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, Calif., at 11:14 p.m. PST Dec. 5 (2:14 a.m. EST Dec. 6) carrying the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-39 satellite. The CubeSats, are a part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ElaNa) mission, NASA’s fifth ElaNa mission launch into space. The miniature satellites deployed from their protective cases into Earth orbit about three hours after liftoff.

The teams responsible for the satellites are beginning to receive signals as the CubeSats come online. Although it could take several days for full confirmation, all of the spacecraft appear to be doing well in their new home in low-Earth orbit.

“This was another great moment for the ELaNa mission and the CubeSat community,” said Jason Crusan, director of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division, which oversees the CubeSat Launch Initiative. “With each successful mission, we are demonstrating that frequent access to space provides a great opportunity for NASA to gain engineering results at a low cost while affording students real-world exposure to spaceflight.”

The CubeSats were prepared by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and students at Medgar Evers College at the City University of New York; Montana State University in Bozeman; and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites measure about 4 inches on each side, have a volume of about 1 quart and weigh less than 3 pounds. CubeSat research addresses science, exploration, technology development, education or space missions.

ELaNa missions, conducted under NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, give students, teachers and faculty hands-on experience developing flight hardware by providing access to a low-cost avenue for research. Since its inception in 2010, the CubeSat Launch Initiative has selected more than 90 CubeSats from primarily educational and government institutions around the United States. NASA chose these miniature satellites from respondents to public announcements for the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. NASA will announce another call for proposals in August.

For additional information about NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cubesat

 

Chinese space, Space Systems, The Moon

China’s Chang’e 3 enters lunar orbit

The Chinese Chang’e 3 lunar lander and rover spacecraft has gone into orbit around the Moon. It is expected to land on December 14th.

This animation shows how the rover leaves the lander and explores the lunar surface:

Activism, Mars, Space Systems

Plans for Mars + Participation in a Space Legislative Blitz

There are several plans currently being promoted by non-government groups for getting humans to and on Mars. Here is a list with brief outlines of four such plans along with a list of reasons for going to Mars in the first place: The Many Plans for Mars (Issue #25) – Mars Society Education Forum.

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The Mars Society and a dozen other space activist groups are planning a Space Exploration Alliance Legislative Blitz  on February 23rd-25th in Washington, D.C They welcome your participation :  Get Involved in Mars/Space Advocacy, Participate in 2014 SEA Legislative Blitz – The Mars Society.

The 2014 Legislative Blitz comes at a time when our space program is at a crossroads, both in terms of funding and direction. The voices of the space advocacy community must be heard now as perhaps never before. The 2014 Legislative Blitz will call upon Congress to ensure that our nation’s space program is a compelling national priority.

Come join space advocates from around the country to let Congress know that there is strong constituent support for an ambitious space program. You will find this experience to be exciting and rewarding. There will be an information/training session on Sunday, February 23rd, with materials for meetings on Monday, February 24th and Tuesday, February 25th.

This event will not be successful without your help. Please JOIN US from February 23-25, 2014, so that YOUR voice can be heard. See you in Washington, D.C.

Register Here