Monthly Archives: March 2019

Amateur/Student Satellite

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – March.3.2019

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** The Virginia CubeSat Constellation involves students at four Virginia universities and is supported by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. They have developed three CubeSats that will be launched to the ISS on a Cygnus cargo craft and then sent into orbit by a NanoRacks deployment system:  Three Virginia University Satellites Get Closer to Launch – Virginia Space Grant Consortium (pdf)

A giant leap towards space for Virginia university students took place on February 26 when students from three Virginia universities delivered their small satellites to NanoRacks in Houston to be integrated into the Company’s commercially developed CubeSat deployer (NRCSD) and then launched on Northrop Grumman’s Antares to the International Space Station.

The satellites are part of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation mission, a collaborative project of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and four of its member universities: Old Dominion University (ODU), Virginia Tech (VT), University of Virginia (UVA), and Hampton University (HU). Three nano-satellites, each about 4 inches cubed and weighing approximately 3 pounds, have been developed and instrumented (one each at ODU, VT and UVA) to obtain measurements of the properties of the Earth’s atmosphere. As the orbits of the satellites decay due to atmospheric drag, satellite instruments will quantify atmospheric density.

The three CubeSats will be deployed via the NRCSD by astronauts aboard the International Space Station into orbit near-simultaneously so they can orbit together and function as a constellation. The ODU satellite, which has a drag brake to intentionally cause orbital decay, is expected to remain in orbit for up to four months. The other two satellites should orbit for up to two years at an altitude of 250 miles before burning up when they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. The satellites will communicate data to ground stations at Virginia Tech, University of Virginia and Old Dominion University for subsequent analysis using an analytical tool being developed by Hampton University students from the Atmospheric and Planetary Science Department.

See also

Mission leads from UVA (Erin Puckette), ODU (Kim Wright) and Virginia Tech (Madison Brodnax) happily pose with their teams’ satellites prior to integration.

** Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) has put two cubesats into orbit (ZA Cube-1 and ZACube-2) and is developing a constellation for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and fire detection in the South African grasslands: CPUT receives more investment to build South Africa’s MDA satellite constellation – Space in Africa

The recently announced R27 million investment will fund the CubeSat space program to develop three more nano-satellites for an MDA satellite constellation that will assist South Africa’s ocean monitoring efforts and veld fire detection. The space programme has already graduated over 60 postgraduate students starting from CPUT’s first CubeSat ZACube-1.

See also R27m cash injection for satellite programme | ITWeb.

** CubeSat (STF-1) developed by TMC Technologies with the help of West Virginia University students and supported by the  West Virginia Space Grant Consortium was launched in December by Rocket Lab. The project may be the start of a WV smallsat industry: WV could serve as new satellite manufacturing hub – State Journal News/wvnews.com

STF-1 is a cube satellite designed and assembled in North Central West Virginia by Marion County-based TMC Technologies in collaboration with faculty and students at West Virginia University as part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites mission. Launched from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula in December, STF-1 recently achieved a milestone of 60 days in space, orbiting the globe more than 960 times.

…

[Project lead engineer Matt Grubb] said that given STF-1’s success, there’s a strong foundation to build upon in terms of infrastructure and experience if a CubeSat manufacturing industry were to take off. One issue that does need to be addressed, he said, is attracting outside scientists and innovators. STF-1 has been successful, but it was largely a feat of engineering and technical prowess. Now, Grubb said, the next big project will have to be more creative to find new instruments or designs to send into orbit.

TMC President and CEO Wade Linger is hoping the success of STF-1 will lead to getting the chance to build more spacecraft in West Virginia.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-061 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

  • Call for Volunteers – AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention
  • JAMSAT Announces 2019 Symposium, March 16-17
  • SatNOGS Client and gr-satnogs Updates
  • ARISS News — Reports Requested
  • “Off to the Motherland” Rove
  • Activating Northern Maine Grids – March 2-3
  • Summer Internship Positions Open in the SpaceSTEM Program
  • Virginia Cubesat Constellation Moves Forward
  • New ‘NASA Science Live’ Program Premiers This Week
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

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Living in Space, Space Systems, Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

SpaceX Crew Dragon successfully docks to the ISS and crew enters capsule

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station early this morning. The uncrewed vehicle, which was launched on Saturday morning, approached the station very systematically, carrying out a set of highly choreographed actions to prove that it was capable of safely maneuvering near the station before being allowed to approach autonomously, and very slowly, push its nose into the docking adapter on the port of the Harmony module.

The first Crew Dragon docked to the ISS.

The hatch was opened about 2 hours after the docking. Crew members entered the capsule wearing air masks in case there were any leaks of noxious fumes into the capsule during the trip to the station.

Some photos of the Dragon and the ISS during the rendezvous and docking:

The Crew Dragon nears the station. The nose cap was opened soon after the Dragon was deployed from the Falcon 9 upper stage.
A view of the ISS from the Crew Dragon. Overlaid are indicators of the vehicle’s distance from the station, relative speed, etc.
Targeting the docking adapter on the Harmony module.
Views from a camera on the Crew Dragon of the docking port (left) and from a camera on the ISS of the Dragon (right).
Ripley waits in the Dragon while the crew prepared to open the hatch. The astronauts wear masks initially in case of any air quality problems in the capsule.
Astronaut David Saint-Jacques and cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko test the air inside the Dragon. Astronaut Anne McClain remained in the Harmony module.

More about the docking at:

An appropriate musical tribute to the Crew Dragon flight:

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The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos,
and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos

History, Space Systems

Videos: Restoring an Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC)

The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) seems quite primitive today but it was a great advance in real time computing for the 1960s. Even with just 2k of RAM and 37k of ROM, the AGC was crucial to the successful operation of the Apollo command modules (CM) and Apollo Lunar Modules (LM).

A team organized by Marc Verdiell (CuriousMarc), who specializes in restoration of vintage electronic devices, is restoring an AGC to working condition. They have recorded their efforts in videos posted on the CuriousMarc channel.

** Apollo AGC Part 1: Restoring the computer that put man on the Moon:

We embark on the restoration of a very rare and historically significant machine: the Apollo Guidance Computer, or AGC. It was the revolutionary MIT-designed computer aboard Apollo that brought man on the Moon (and back!). Mike Stewart, space engineer extraordinaire and living AGC encyclopedia, spearheads this restoration effort. In this first episode, we setup a makeshift lab in his hotel room, somewhere in Houston. The computer belongs to a delightful private collector, Jimmie Loocke, who has generously allowed us to dive in the guts of his precious machine, with the hope of restoring it to full functionality by July 2019, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.

** Apollo AGC Part 2: Power supplies test

Mike Stewart gives an overview of the hardware. Enamored by the success at checking the IC gates, we proceed to check out and power up the supplies. Once again a long-ish video, but I hesitate to chop it up too much for fear of losing details that might be important to some. Let me know how I am doing.

Apollo AGC Part 3: Main Bus B Undervolt

In preparation for the AGC power up, we test the alarm module B8, simulate the Apollo 13 main bus undervolt, and discover that our memory is faulty. And we find out how much our AGC did originally cost.

Apollo AGC Part 4: We are “go” for power up

The last module has checked out OK. It’s time to attempt powering up the AGC – and see if it awakens from its 43+ years of slumber, even without proper working memory.

Apollo AGC Part 4 ½: Bonus material, full Logic Analyzer trace explanation uncut

Some inquisitive minds requested a non-edited version of the hard core read-back of the LA trace we obtained in episode 4. Your wish is hereby granted. It’s actually quite interesting, provided you are a curious minded enginerd and dedicated follower of this restoration. Normal folks, move right along. Oh, wait, are there any of these left on my channel? Anyhow, I am curious (it’s in my name) to see how popular this video is going to be.

Apollo AGC Part 5: We run a chunk of original Apollo code!

We are out of time for our first visit, and memory is not working. But our whiz kid Mike manages to whip up an FPGA memory emulator for the AGC just before we have to leave. The AGC gets to run a chunk of an original Apollo program!

Apollo AGC Part 6: Restoration update, a new sponsor, and a satellite launch

An update on the work with the DKSY, the rope memory simulator, the core memory, and Mike’s satellite launch!

You can also try out a simulation of the AGC at Online Apollo Guidance Computer Simulator.

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Rockets, Space industry and microgravity R&D

Videos: EXOS Aerospace launches suborbital SARGE rocket from New Mexico

Today, EXOS Aerospace successfully launched the SARGE reusable sounding rocket on a suborbital flight from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Haven’t seen any word on the altitude reached. The rocket returned via a paraglider return for a soft landing and will be used again for future flights.

EXOS Aerospace SARGE rocket lifts off from Spaceport America.

Here is the full webcast video. (Liftoff takes place at 1:21:50):

The rocket returned for a landing within a couple of hundred meters of the launch pad.

SARGE comes back to earth with a paraglider.

An inspection of the rocket following the landing:

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Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past

Space Policy

Space policy roundup – Mar.2.2019

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

Webcasts:

** EXCLUSIVE: Former FL Sen. Bill Nelson on space exploration, UF historical docs

** February 26, 2019 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

** The Space Show – Sun, 02/24/2019 – Linda Plush talked about “Human spaceflight medical concerns, challenges, solutions, mitigations, R&D, budget issues, progress, engineering differences and more”.

** The Space Show – Mon, 02/25/2019 – Micah Walter-Range discussed “how to expand and develop space with both government and private sector activity to establish a sustainable global space economy”.

** The Space Show – Tue, 02/26/2019 – Bernie Taylor discussed “Lunar time life, lunar cycles and life, extraterrestrial life, Drake equation modification to reflect the Moon, intelligent animals w/o lunar cycles and more”.

** Weekly Space Hangout: Feb 27, 2019: Dr. Ellen Stofan, Director of the National Air and Space Museum

** Episode T+113: Q&A – Main Engine Cut Off – “This month, we talk the GEO slowdown, the LEO boom, and as always, take on some fun launch vehicle questions.”

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Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA, and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age