Engineering Commons^™

Transparent Solar Panel Antenna Array, Taha Shahvirdi Dizaj Yekan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A CubeSat is a very small satellite that has been achieving growing interests in space exploration. The base unit of CubeSats 1U, which is a cube with 10 cm on each side. In applications, CubeSats can be deployed as just 1U, or multiple unites can be stacked together to form a larger CubeSat for extended functionality. Due to their small sizes, it is challenging to fit antennas onto CubeSats because the antenna always fights for surface real estate with solar cells. The challenge is further aggravated when an antenna is required to have high gain such as more than 20 …

Plasma Velocity Vector Instrument For Small Satellites (Pvviss), William Smith Hatch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Low-earth orbit (LEO) contains plasma which can impact satellite charging and radio frequency (RF) communications. Quantifying both the composition and movement of ions in LEO can improve efficiency of the forecasting models that predict the impact plasma will have on satellite communications and accuracy of global positioning satellite measurements.

Two instruments known as the Retarding Potential Analyzer (RPA) and the Ion Drift Meter (IDM) have been used in tandem to measure ionospheric properties including ion temperature, velocity, and density. These instruments are costly and occupy large areas on a spacecraft. In recent years, space mission budgets have diminished. This change …

Design Of Miniaturized Time-Of-Flight Reflectron Mass Spectrometer For Upper Atmosphere Density Measurements, Michelle Lynn Pyle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Upper atmosphere and solar events can have strong impacts on the communication, power, and navigation systems we use every day. Modeling atmospheric dynamics, or the changes and reactions of different regions of the atmosphere, can help improve understanding and predictions of the effects of solar events. A suite of measurements of the upper atmosphere, including wind, temperature, and composition measurements, is used to build atmospheric models. Current atmospheric models are very sophisticated but need additional data to fully model atmospheric dynamics. In the past, measurements used to determine atmospheric composition have been performed using mass spectrometer instruments on full-size satellites. …