Education Commons^™

Openorbiter: Analysis Of A Student-Run Space Program, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

Students at the University of North Dakota, as part of faculty-mentored teams in a student-lead program, are working to broaden participation in humanity's exploration of space. The OpenOrbiter Small Spacecraft Development Initiative (OSSDI) is demonstrating two complementary paradigm-changers. First, the initiative facilitates student involvement in all aspects of a space program, without the preconceptions present in established space activities. Second, it is demonstrating a low-cost framework for small spacecraft development. These combined activities are poised to demonstrate a new way forward for space exploration: combined, they allow risk-taking exuberance and a cost of entry that makes risk-taking exuberance acceptable, even …

Openorbiter: A Student Space Program, Jeremy Straub, Joshua Berk, Christoffer Korvald

Jeremy Straub

OpenOrbiter is a student-conceived, student-run small spacecraft program operating at the University of North Dakota. It involves students from numerous departments including both STEM (computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, space studies) and non-STEM (business, entrepreneurship, education) disciplines. The program is comprised of 19 student-lead, faculty-mentored groups focusing on all areas of spacecraft design and fabrication.

This paper presents the OpenOrbiter space program as a model for emulation. It focuses specifically on the utility of participation for students and faculty in the Computer Science discipline, while briefly summarizing the motivation for participants in other disciplines. These benefits include learning the …