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Body Length Determines Flow Refuging For Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) Behind Wing Dams, Terry R. Dial, Laura A. Collins, James C. Liao, Bret W. Tobalske

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Complex hydrodynamics abound in natural streams, yet the selective pressures these impose upon different size classes of fish are not well understood. Attached vortices are produced by relatively large objects that block freestream flow, which fish routinely utilize for flow refuging. To test how flow refuging and the potential harvesting of energy (as seen in Kármán gaiting) varies across size classes in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; fingerling, 8 cm; parr, 14 cm; adult, 21 cm; n = 4 per size class), we used a water flume (4,100 L; freestream flow at 65 cm s^-1) and created …

Balancing Results From Ai-Based Geostatistics Versus Fuzzy Inference By Game Theory Bargaining To Improve A Groundwater Monitoring Network, Masoumeh Hashemi, Richard C. Peralta, Matt Yost

Plants, Soils and Climate Student Research

An artificial intelligence-based geostatistical optimization algorithm was developed to upgrade a test Iranian aquifer's existing groundwater monitoring network. For that aquifer, a preliminary study revealed that a Multi-Layer Perceptron Artificial Neural Network (MLP-ANN) more accurately determined temporally average water table elevations than geostatistical kriging, spline, and inverse distance weighting. Because kriging is usually used in that area for water table estimation, the developed algorithm used MLP-ANN to guide kriging, and Genetic Algorithm (GA) to determine locations for new monitoring well location(s). For possible annual fiscal budgets allowing 1-12 new wells, 12 sets of optimal new well locations are reported. Each …

Development Of Advanced Ablative Carbon Phenolic Tps For Future Nasa Missions And Commercial Space, Matthew Gasch, Keith Peterson, Mairead Stackpoole, Ethiraj Venkatapathy, Greg Gonzales, Kyle Hendrickson

Small Satellite Conference

Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) is a low-density carbon phenolic ablator that has been used as the planetary entry heatshield for several NASA missions since the late 90's. Its low density and efficient performance characteristics have proven effective for use from Discovery to Flagship class missions, from Sample Return missions such as Stardust, OSIRIS-REx to large Mars lander missions such as MSL and Mars 2020.

Continued development of a mass efficient, compliant version of PICA that use a carbon felt as the substrate will be presented. The felt based versions of PICA known as Conformal PICA (C-PICA) and Soft PICA …

Neuromorphic Star Tracking Using Monte Carlo Localization, Connor Gisburne, Alex Warren, Steven Allen, Michael Bantel, Justin James

Small Satellite Conference

Accurate attitude determination ensures precise payload sensor alignment and optimal solar panel positioning, enhancing data collection and power efficiency while ensuring stable orbit maintenance. The most accurate method of attitude determination is star tracking. Star trackers collect an image of a star field and utilize a catalog of known star positions to calculate the orientation of the system relative to the stars. The errors present in this method of attitude determination tend to be on the order of ten arcseconds or less. Using traditional collection techniques, attitude estimates can be provided at update rates of 1 to 10 Hz and …

Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (Eleo): An Orbital Incubator And Nursery, Siegfried Janson

Small Satellite Conference

Recent research has shown that Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (ELEO) below 500 km has an exceptionally low space radiation environment that is ideal for long-term space settlements. The pressure vessel itself provides enough radiation shielding to enable decades of on-orbit habitation for an individual without exceeding radiation safety limits. My calculations using SPENVIS show that a minimum radiation "Incubator" region exists between 24° inclination at 350 km altitude, which drops linearly with increasing altitude to 0° inclination at 550 km altitude. Silicon-based spacecraft electronics inside a 1-mm thick aluminum hull would have a trapped particle dose rate ~4 orders-of-magnitude lower …

Starling Formation-Flying Optical Experiment: Initial Operations And Flight Results, Justin Kruger, Simone D'Amico, Soon S. Hwang

Small Satellite Conference

This paper presents initial flight results for distributed optical angles-only navigation of a swarm of small spacecraft, conducted during the Starling Formation-Flying Optical Experiment (StarFOX). StarFOX is a core payload of the NASA Starling mission, which consists of four CubeSats launched in 2023. Angles-only methods apply inter-satellite bearing angles obtained by on-board cameras for navigation, increasing satellite autonomy and enabling new mission concepts. Nevertheless, prior flight demonstrations have only featured one observer and target and have relied upon a-priori target orbit knowledge for initialization, translational maneuvers to resolve target range, and external absolute orbit updates to maintain convergence. StarFOX overcomes …

Characterization And Far-Field Plume Analysis On The Het-X Hall Effect Thruster, Adrian Vicente, Dan Lev, Mitchell Walker, Nathan Rosenblad, Michael Holmes

Small Satellite Conference

The performance of the Earth Observant Inc. novel 600W Hall effect thruster prototype, designated HET-X, is characterized from 300 W to 1100 W at a facility operating pressure range of 7E-6 to 5E-7 Torr on xenon gas. The performance characterization includes time-resolved measurements of the discharge current oscillations during IVB mapping. A Faraday probe and retarding potential analyzer were used to measure the ion current density profile from −90° to +90° and the ion energy distribution function, respectively. The calculated beam divergence, current utilization, and voltage utilization efficiencies are 92.4%, 85.4%, and 93.6%. The thruster achieves a maximum performance of …

Automatic Data Processing On The Ground For The 6u Cubesat X-Ray Observatory Ninjasat, Naoyuki Ota, Tomoshi Takeda, Sota Watanabe, Arata Jujo, Amira Aoyama, Kaede Yamasaki, Satoko Iwata, Takuya Takahashi, Yuanhui Zhou, Keisuke Uchiyama, Yuto Yoshida, Syoki Hayashi, Toru Tamagawa, Takao Kitaguchi, Yo Kato, Tatehiro Mihara, Kentaro Taniguchi, Teruaki Enoto, Wataru Iwakiri, Masaki Numazawa, Hiroki Sato, Chin-Ping Hu, Hiromitsu Takahashi, Hirokazu Odaka, Tsubasa Tamba

Small Satellite Conference

NinjaSat is a 6U CubeSat X-ray observatory that observes time variations in X-ray flux through longterm monitoring of black holes or neutron stars and performs follow-up observations of unexpected objects discovered by other observatories. NinjaSat is equipped with gas X-ray detectors (GMCs) sensitive to 2–50 keV. The satellite is operated in cooperation with NanoAvionics (NA) responsible for satellite operation. As a science team, we need to process GMCs’ data and cross-check the power system and attitude of the satellite. We are developing data processing software, consisting of Quick Look software for satellite bus and GMC health checks, and calibration software …

Oscillating Heat Pipe Enabled Radiators, Corey Wilson, Patrick Margavio, Bob Ducommun

Small Satellite Conference

What is an Oscillating Heat Pipe (OHP)?

A passive high performance heat transfer device that can be manufactured in thin ( < 4 mm) and structural members (aluminum, copper). A radiator effective thermal conductivity can be > 10,000 W/mK.

Optimal Control Design Of Rotation Floating Space Robot During Grasping Operation: An Rl Approach, Roshan Sah, Kaushik Das

Small Satellite Conference

This poster introduces an innovative model-free learning-based controller designed to comprehensively control an orbiting space robot engaged in proximity and grasping operations. Proximity control techniques are crucial for space robots, specifically robotic manipulators on a floating satellite base, facilitating tasks like in-orbit servicing and debris grasping. Traditional controllers need help managing these robots' coupled motion due to the satellite base's floating nature. While conventional controllers have been utilized for coupled control in nonlinear systems, their complexity increases with the growing degrees of freedom in the robot. In contrast, Model-free Reinforcement Learning (RL) has successfully mastered intricate policies within robotic manipulation. …

Beyond The Visible: Jointly Attending To Spectral And Spatial Dimensions With Hsi-Diffusion For The Finch Spacecraft, Ian Vyse, Rishit Dagli, Dav Vrat Chadha, John P. Ma, Hector Chen, Isha Ruparelia, Prithvi Seran, Matthew Xie, Eesa Aamer, Aidan Armstrong, Naveen Black, Ben Borstein, Kevin Caldwell, Orrin Dahanaggamaarachchi, Joe Dai, Abeer Fatima, Stephanie Lu, Maxime Michet, Anoushka Paul, Carrie Ann Po, Shivesh Prakash, Noa Prosser, Riddhiman Roy, Mirai Shinjo, Iliya Shofman, Coby Silayan, Reid Sox-Harris, Shuhan Zheng, Khang Nguyen

Small Satellite Conference

Satellite remote sensing missions have gained popularity over the past fifteen years due to their ability to cover large swaths of land at regular intervals, making them ideal for monitoring environmental trends. The FINCH mission, a 3U+ CubeSat equipped with a hyperspectral camera, aims to monitor crop residue cover in agricultural fields. Although hyperspectral imaging captures both spectral and spatial information, it is prone to various types of noise, including random noise, stripe noise, and dead pixels. Effective denoising of these images is crucial for downstream scientific tasks. Traditional methods, including hand-crafted techniques encoding strong priors, learned 2D image denoising …

Estimation And Control Of Dynamic Mass-Moment Parameters For Spacecraft Attitude Simulator, Oleksii Padun, Ye Lu

Small Satellite Conference

Spacecraft attitude testbed has been a popular platform for the development, testing, and validation of real-time attitude determination, estimation, and control, algorithms. The focus of this paper is the development of a dynamic mass moment estimation algorithm and an automatic mass balancing control system with numerical validations. Two estimation layers are implemented: one for attitude estimation and another for mass-moment parameter estimation. Attitude estimation follows the existing literature of quaternion estimators with a nonlinear Kalman filter. Dynamic mass-moment parameter estimation is formulated as batch estimation with a nonlinear filter. The initialization process of the EKF parameter estimator is enhanced by …

Edge Node: A Multi-User Rendezvous And Proximity Operations On-Orbit Testbed, Darren Rowen, Joel Rivera, Susan Lui, Joseph Gangestad, Alex Gallenberger, Binh Dinh, Phaedrus Leeds, Noah Weiner, Rudd Johnson, Christopher Day, Alexander Christidis

Small Satellite Conference

Edge Node is a multi-small satellite free-flying, collaborative testbed for formation flight and rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) under development by The Aerospace Corporation that is planned for launch in 2026- 2027. Edge Node will develop and advance local space situational awareness sensors for CubeSat-scale platforms and facilitate the development and qualification of autonomous on-board RPO software for CubeSats. Edge Node is intended to serve as a multi-user on-orbit facility through which technologies and algorithms can be tested and validated in the authentic operational low Earth orbital environment. Edge Node leverages recent advances in miniature sensor and computing hardware for …

Characterisation Of Satcom Networks For Rapid Message Delivery: Early In-Orbit Results, Robert Mearns, Airlie Chapman, Michele Trenti

Small Satellite Conference

Traditional nanosatellite communication links rely on infrequent ground-station access windows. While this is well suited to both payload data and detailed scheduling information, it leads to both intermittent and short communication windows. The resulting long periods without contact are ill-suited for both opportunistic tasking of satellites and triggers generated by autonomous operations. Existing orbital infrastructure in the form of satellite communication (SATCOM) networks, such as Iridium and others provide a readily available and cost effective solution to this problem. While these networks continue to be utilized onboard nanosatellites, a full characterization of their utility and performance in-orbit is vital to …

Beavercube Ii: Using Ai-Optimized Processors On Earth-Observing Cubesats For Autonomous Image Analysis And Intelligent Data Handling, Adam Bahlous-Boldi, Celvi Lisy, Neelambar Mondal, Brianna Ferro, Shreeyam Kacker, Mary Dahl, Madeline Anderson, Kerri Cahoy

Small Satellite Conference

The mission goal of BeaverCube II is to demonstrate autonomous on-orbit image processing and classification using the Xilinx Versal System-On-Chip (SOC). The Versal has 400 dedicated AI engines on an FPGA-based platform, enabling compute-intensive machine learning capabilities. While the Versal can consume over 100 W of power, BeaverCube II will demonstrate its on-orbit function in a low-power, size-constrained system. The system will use machine learning algorithms such as K-means clustering to autonomously assess whether features or changes of interest are present across keyframes.

BeaverCube II has a 1U imaging payload consisting of three Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) cameras: two identical visible …

Laser Crosslink Experiment: A Mission Overview, Sean Stanko, Dan Frey, Jose Ruvalcaba, Sean Burk, Damian Klaren, Dmitriy Obukhov, Barry Tidmore, Jason Bousquet, David Wayne, Nathan Barnwell, Kevin Book, Stan Volchenok, David Sadowski, David Palmer

Small Satellite Conference

The Laser Crosslink Experiment (LaCE) is an ongoing optical communication campaign with ground, stratospheric, and orbital elements. The principal LaCE experiment is two 6U CubeSats, LaCE 1 and LaCE 2, which were launched to a shared sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on March 4, 2024. LaCE was originally conceived in 2015 as an integration effort for a series of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposals. Its primary experiment is the Skylight laser terminal, an experimental optical communications device.

Due to the experimental nature of key subsystems, LaCE was expanded in 2020 from the initial small satellite mission to a hybrid …

Robust Symbol Rate Correction Of Multi-H Continuous Phase Frequency Shift Keyed Signals In The Presence Of Doppler, Brendan Hill, Nazia Mozaffar, Salwan Damman

Small Satellite Conference

Communications with a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite require tracking and correcting both the Doppler frequency offset and the symbol rate. A constant envelope signal such as Continuous Phase Frequency Shift Keying (CPFSK) is a popular choice for driving a power amplifier close to its 1 dB compression point. Establishing a changing modulation index (“multi-h”) in the CPFSK signal produces coding gain, which requires a Viterbi decoder in the receiver. A simple way to create this coding gain is to alternate between two modulation indices. A receiver with a Viterbi decoder-assisted time and phase correction of a Continuous Phase Frequency …

Predicting The Properties Of Resident Space Objects In Leo Using Graph Neural Networks, Marta Guimarães, Cláudia Soares, Chiara Manfletti

Small Satellite Conference

In recent years, the number of resident space objects (RSOs) in low Earth orbit (LEO) has significantly increased. As a result, decision-making tasks and the overall understanding within the space domain have become more challenging. To make critical decisions such as collision avoidance manoeuvres, satellite owners and operators must be aware of their assets’ surroundings. Therefore, spacecraft operators must understand the characteristics of these RSOs and their spatial relationships. To address this issue, we propose a novel approach using graph neural networks (GNNs) to predict RSOs’ properties in LEO. This approach captures the complex interdependencies between RSOs by representing each …

A Low-Cost, Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulator Facilitating Cubesat Star Tracker Development, Hongrui Zhao, Adrian Zhuang, Michael F. Lembeck

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSats are increasingly used to support complex missions requiring accurate attitude knowledge and pointing control. To meet these requirements, miniature star trackers are being manifested with CubeSat attitude control systems. Accurate performance verification of these trackers can be facilitated using a low-cost, hardware-in-the-loop simulator. The simulator covered in this paper incorporates a high-resolution monitor and a collimating lens to project a simulated star field for the star tracker under test. Based on a systematic accuracy analysis, this simulator is shown to be precise enough to allow for successful star identification and attitude determination in a closed loop test. An empirical …

The Progress Ahead On The Pedago-Sat Academic Nanosatellite Training Platform Project, Aissa Boutte, El Yazid Belaidi

Small Satellite Conference

Since the beginning of 2022, development of the ”PEDAGO-SAT” platform has been underway, in line with a 36-months development plan that proposes a nano-satellite platform (Open -source) using an accessible products. The main objective is to design a training solution aligned with the Algerian Space Agency’s (ASAL) strategy to promote local aerospace activity and encourage national universities to play a role in advancing this sector. Once the nanosatellite is built and the tests on the various sub-systems and learning scenarios and procedure validated, the project’s outcome will be proposed as an educational support to space engineering graduates and training the …

Assessment Of Generative Ai Tools To Enhance Software Development For Early-Stage Cubesat Design In A Resource-Limited Environment, Morokot Sakal

Small Satellite Conference

For developing countries, access to space is still limited due to a lack of expertise and resources. This study assesses the extent to which generative AI can augment software development for early-stage CubeSat design in a resource-limited environment. ChatGPT-4 was used to guide the software development process. To demonstrate its effectiveness, a case study involving the construction of an orbital simulator for predicting the mission lifetime of a CubeSat in LEO was conducted, comparing the AI-assisted software with baseline software previously developed by the team. The results demonstrate significant advantages in terms of development effort reduction, but also introduce challenges …

Prompt Anomaly Detection For Small Satellites In Low-Earth Orbit Constellations: A Machine Learning Approach, Weicheng Qian, Joshua Dejong, Bryan Cooke

Small Satellite Conference

Small satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations are shaping the future of communications and Earth observation. Despite having inherent advantages such as lower latency and faster deployments due to quicker and cheaper access to space, monitoring the large number of LEO satellites imposes a significant burden when considering the long-established methods of human-in-the-loop anomaly detection and recovery. Timely responses to anomalies reduce operational outages and help maximize the availability of the network. Traditional rule-based detection and supervised learning have inherent limitations in monitoring the large numbers of space assets projected to be launched over the next decades because more …

Solar Sail Propulsion - Ready For Smallsat Mission Implementation, Les Johnson, Leslie Mcnutt, Anan Takroori

Small Satellite Conference

Solar sails have the potential to provide high ΔV for many types of missions. Solar sails are large, mirror-like structures made of a lightweight material that reflects sunlight to propel the spacecraft. The continuous solar photon pressure provides thrust with no need for the heavy, expendable propellants used by conventional chemical and electric propulsion systems. The 1653 m2 NASA Solar Cruiser solar sail propulsion system, made from 2.5 micron-thick thin film, recently advanced to NASA's Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 through extensive testing (January 2024). The sailcraft platform has pointing control and attitude stability comparable to traditional platforms, supporting both …

Cold-Infusion Of Catalytic Materials Into 3-D Printed Fuels For In-Space Hybrid Propulsion Performance Enhancement, Ryan Thibaudeau, Stephen A. Whitmore

Small Satellite Conference

A recent study by the ESA Space Research and Technology Center has identified that "reducing toxicity of propellants" offers the highest potential for reducing commercial space operating costs. Developing a "green" alternative for hydrazine, the most commonly used space propellant, was highly recommended. Hybrid propulsion offers an emerging, low-cost solution, especially for SmallSat propulsion.

Historically, a primary drawback of hybrid systems was a lack of reliable multiple-use ignition methods. Recently, restartability issues were overcome by leveraging unique dielectric breakdown properties of 3-D printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Additive printing significantly changes thermoelectric properties, and when ABS is subjected to an …

Flight Results And Lessons Learned From The Starling Propulsion System, Terry Stevenson

Small Satellite Conference

NASA's Starling mission is a swarm of four 6U Cubesats flying in formation in Low Earth Orbit to demonstrate scalable swarm technologies, particularly related to crosslink networking. In order to maintain and modify their formation, the Starling spacecraft use a cold gas propulsion system called Hamlet, which provides each spacecraft with 30 m/s of delta-V, as well as attitude control during maneuvers. Hamlet is a fully self-contained system, incorporating propellant tanks, valves, nozzles, and control electronics. Most of the structure of Hamlet is a single piece of stereolithography-printed composite, which simplifies assembly and allows for unusual tank geometry that maximizes …

Approach To Automated Processes For Satellite Operations, Gianmarco Broilo, Jan-Christoph Scharringhausen

Small Satellite Conference

The European Data Relay System (EDRS) provides a high speed data link between ground stations and satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The communication between LEO satellites is achieved via optical inter-satellite links, the data is then relayed to ground using a Ka-Band antenna. During nominal operations, up to 200 links per day are foreseen to be commanded by the ground system at DLR's German Space Operations Center (GSOC). This large number of complex activities connected to each link is beyond the capabilities of a classical operational concept where only manual operations are performed by a single satellite operator. Therefore, …

Sifter: Star Identification From Transformer-Encoded Representations, Edward Zhang

Small Satellite Conference

We present SIFTER: Star Identification From Transformer-Encoded Representations, a novel neural network-based star identification algorithm for small satellites, trained on an original dataset of synthetic star scenes. SIFTER uses an encoder neural network model to construct sophisticated representations of star patterns by relating centroids of a given star scene. By avoiding the use of manual feature extraction and pattern construction algorithms, SIFTER is more robust to image noise and environmental disturbances than previously proposed classical and neural network-based algorithms. SIFTER generalizes well on real images taken from satellites and observatories, maintaining availability above 97% and error rate below 2% in …

Vision-Based Detection Of Uncooperative Targets And Components On Small Satellites, Hannah Grauer, Elena-Sorina Lupu, Connor Lee, Soon-Jo Chung, Darren Rowen, Benjamen Bycroft, Phaedrus Leeds, John Brader

Small Satellite Conference

Space debris and inactive satellites pose a threat to the safety and integrity of operational spacecraft and motivate the need for space situational awareness techniques. These uncooperative targets create a challenging tracking and detection problem due to a lack of prior knowledge of their features, trajectories, or even existence. Recent advancements in computer vision models can be used to improve upon existing methods for tracking such uncooperative targets to make them more robust and reliable to the wide-ranging nature of the target. This paper introduces an autonomous detection model designed to identify and monitor these objects using learning and computer …

Miniaturized Scintillation Based Detector For Characterizing Energetic Electron Precipitation, Anant Telikicherla

Small Satellite Conference

In-situ measurements of energetic particle precipitation in the near-Earth space environment are essential for understanding the governing physical processes responsible for this precipitation, as well as to elucidate the possible impacts of space radiation on the Earth’s atmosphere. In this study, we present the design of a novel miniaturized detector to measure energetic electron precipitation. The detector is one of the instruments to be flown on-board the Canadian RADiation Impacts on Climate and Atmospheric Loss Satellite (RADICALS) mission, which is a low-Earth orbiting satellite planned to launch in 2026/2027. The detector is optimized to measure high energy electron microburst precipitation, …

Low-Cost Hold-Down And Release Mechanism For Small Satellite Deployable Solar Wings, Alexandre Florio

Small Satellite Conference

Deployable structures increase mission capabilities and this applies particularly to microspace missions which are subjected to tight volume constraints. Nonetheless, these deployable structures come at an increase in risk and financial costs. In fact, problems associated to deployable solar wings are one of the main contributors to early mission failure. This paper presents the development of a reliable low-cost hold-down and release mechanism for a two-segment small satellite solar wing. This mechanism was valuable in the effort of bringing the overall solar wing cost down by 30% to 60% in comparison to what is commercially available. Its main components are …