Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Creating Low-Cost ‘Balloonsats’ For Stem Education With 3d Printing, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

A new technology, known as 3D printing, allows the rapid fabrication of plastic structures of virtually any configuration. These structures are light-weight, durable and inexpensive. This paper considers the utility of utilizing 3D printing to create enclosures for ‘BalloonSats’ – small, low-cost spacecraft analog which can be utilized by students to understand space engineering, conduct near-space science (e.g., physics, biological and other experiments) and touch the edge of space.

The utility of 3D printed structures for use in the near-space low-temperature and low-pressure environment is considered. This analysis falls into four key areas. First, the ability of the structures to …

Spatial Computing In An Orbital Environment: An Exploration Of The Unique Constraints Of This Special Case To Other Spatial Computing Environments, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

The creation of an orbital services model (where spacecraft expose their capabilities for use by other spacecraft as part of a service-for-hire or barter system) requires effective determination of how to best transmit information between the two collaborating spacecraft. Existing approaches developed for ad hoc networking (e.g., wireless networks with users entering and departing in a pseudo-random fashion) exist; however, these fail to generate optimal solutions as they ignore a critical piece of available information. This additional piece of information is the orbital characteristics of the spacecraft. A spacecraft’s orbit is nearly deterministic if the magnitude and direction of its …

A Report On Small Spacecraft Development Work At The University Of North Dakota, Jeremy Straub, Christoffer Korvald

Jeremy Straub

An update on current activities related to small spacecraft development at the University of North Dakota is presented. These activities include mission design (a NEA rendezvous mission), spacecraft design efforts (the Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats) and two active design and development efforts (DakotaAlpha and OpenOrbiter). This presentation covers the ongoing activities at UND and the educational and technical value that has been produced. In particular, it focuses on the OpenOrbiter program from an educational perspective. Through OpenOrbiter, students from a multitude of STEM (computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc.) and non-STEM (education, business, public policy, fine arts, etc.) …