Project Team
Students
Maria Herranz
Aerospace Engineering
Penn State Abington
Lingqi Li
Mechanical Engineering
Penn State University Park
Faculty Mentors
Masataka Okutsu
Penn State Abington
Engineering
Jose Pinto Duarte
Penn State University Park
Stuckeman Center for Design Computing
Project
Project Video
Project Abstract
CubeSat is a type of small spacecraft with a few liters in volume. Our goal for the 8-week MC-REU project is to configure and demonstrate the scientific instruments that could be used in Earth orbit. Specific sensors tested are thermal sensor, magnetometer, ultraviolet sensor, accelerometer, and GPS unit. A series of experiments validated the capabilities of the instruments, but we also uncovered issues with reliability (e.g., GPS not being able to initialize using mobile hot spot) and accuracy (e.g., the magnetometer must be a thousand times more accurate for space weather forecasting; accelerometer’s sampling rate is too low for analysis of rocket vibration). Future work includes testing of our sensor suite under the harsh operational environment, most notably at extreme thermal bounds. The sensors used in our MC-REU project are expected to fly on a ballistic launch test, currently planned for summer 2022.
Evaluate this Project
Use this form link to provide feedback to the presenters, and add your project evaluation for award(s) consideration.