Digital Commons Network^™

Lsu-Crescentcare Sexual Health Center: An Inter-Organizational Partnership Initiative To Improve Access To Sexual Health Services In New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Stephanie N. Taylor, Rebecca A. Lillis, Ronald D. Wilcox, Laura Damioli, David H. Martin, Alice Riener, Julio E. Figueroa, M. Jacques Nsuami

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Objectives: To describe a partnership between CrescentCare and Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Medicine that created a new Sexual Health Clinic in New Orleans, and to assess the health services that patients sought and received at the new clinic in the opening months of its creation. Methods: When the new clinic opened, signs were posted on New Orleans streets, flyers were placed in selected emergency rooms and healthcare facilities, radio and bus stop advertisements were purchased, and the CrescentCare website was updated with the addition of a page for the new clinic. The new clinic opened on 15 June …

Structural Insights Into Ssna1 Self-Assembly And Its Microtubule Binding For Centriole Maintenance, Lorenzo Agostini, Jason A Pfister, Nirakar Basnet, Jienyu Ding, Rui Zhang, Christian Biertümpfel, Kevin F O'Connell, Naoko Mizuno

2020-Current year OA Pubs

SSNA1 is a fibrillar protein involved in dynamic microtubule remodeling, including nucleation, co-polymerization, and microtubule branching. The underlying molecular mechanism has remained unclear due to a lack of structural information. Here, we determine the cryo-EM structure of C.elegans SSNA-1 at 4.55-Å resolution and evaluate its role in embryonic development. We find that SSNA-1 forms an anti-parallel coiled-coil, with self-assembly facilitated by an overhang of 16 C-terminal residues that form a triple-stranded helical junction. The microtubule-binding region is within the triple-stranded junction, suggesting that self-assembly of SSNA-1 creates hubs for effective microtubule interaction. Genetical analysis elucidates that SSNA-1 deletion significantly reduces …

Effect Of High Solar Activity On The Orbital Decay Rate Of The 3u Cubesat Dora, Joseph Dubois, Daniel Jacobs, Siddharth Vaidyanathan

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSats developed at universities seldom have propulsion due to cost and complexity constraints and are very commonly deployed from the ISS into orbits where atmospheric drag is significant. Without propulsion, the time to re-entry is a function of the cross section to mass ratio and the space weather. Many cubesats have limited ways of decreasing ram cross section, e.g. pointing into the wind. Hard radiation from solar activity inflates the atmosphere and increases drag. Since the beginning of the cubesat era, the Sun has been unusually quiescent, at a level not seen for 200 years, which has biased expectations for …

Advancing Earth Observation With A Novel Polarimetric Sensor: The Garai-A Satellite And Satlantis’ Next-Generation Systems, Daniel Luque, Leire Benito, Aitor Moriñigo, Aitor Conde, Xavier Lopez, Jon Paul Babio, Fernando Mariño, Lucas Dubois, Wafaa Bousaid, Antonio Checa

Small Satellite Conference

Polarimetric sensors introduce great imaging enhancements to current Earth Observation capabilities, by improving target discrimination, material recognition, and atmospheric components filtering. Satlantis has recently launched its cutting-edge polarimetry technology onboard its GARAI-A satellite, which will soon demonstrate its advanced capabilities in orbit. This paper presents the design of the polarimetric channel, its calibration process, the first polarimetric images, and an initial assessment of their potential applications.

GARAI-A, launched in January 2025, carries an innovative polarimetric channel designed by Satlantis on an iSIM-90 sensor to capture multi-angle polarization data at a very high spatial resolution. Unlike other EO payloads, this novel …

Committed: Remembering Native Kinship In And Beyond Institutions [Book Review], George E. Gottschalk

Disability in LIS (DisLIS)

Committed is a nuanced history of the Canton Indian Insane Asylum.

Mission Highlights From Deep Purple And The Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R, Lance Simms, Jordan Smilo, Frank Ravizza, Waswa Peter, Wim De Vries, Brian Bauman, John Ganino, Ben Bahney, Kyle Kung, Brendan Smith, Shawn Joseph, Luis Andrade, Declan King, Emily Milne, Christopher Laurent, David Mayer, Jan Stupl, Roger Hunter, John Hanson

Small Satellite Conference

Deep Purple is a satellite payload equipped with co-boresighted Ultraviolet (UV) and Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) telescopes. The payload is hosted on the 6U Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R (PTD-R) CubeSat. PTD-R launched on August 16, 2024, into a Sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 520km. After successfully exercising basic inertial and Earth-based imaging with Deep Purple, more sophisticated modes that involve tracking Resident Space Objects (RSOs) were demonstrated. This paper highlights the unique sensing capabilities of PTD-R and outlines some of the mission successes achieved over its 10-month campaign. The latter include follow-on imaging campaigns coordinated with LLNL’s other on-orbit SDA demonstration …

Prometheus-1: A Satellite Framework For Research And Educational Access To Space, Pedro Reis Andrade, Alexandre Ferreira Da Silva, Paulo R. M. Fisch, Neil Khera, Zachary Manchester, Diogo Luis, Rui M. Rocha, Rodrigo Ventura

Small Satellite Conference

In this work, we present the PROMETHEUS-1 satellite mission, a 1P PocketQube designed to validate its development pipeline, to perform onboard Machine Learning tasks on photographs taken by onboard cameras, and to evaluate its active Attitude Determination and Control System implementation. PROMETHEUS-1 was developed under a collaborative initiative involving the University of Minho (UM), Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), conceived to address the current lack of a unified and streamlined infrastructure for low-cost educational satellites. The project covers the lifecycle of a satellite mission, including the development, assembly, licensing, certification, launch, and operation of a flight …

Veery, A Flat Satellite Scatterometer For Global, Hourly Refresh Of Ocean Surface Vector Winds, M. Patrick Walton, Alex R. Laraway, David G. Long

Small Satellite Conference

Care Weather is developing Veery, a small satellite scatterometer for monitoring ocean surface vector wind (OSVW) with state-of-the-art performance. Veery uses a rotating fan-beam C-band radar to provide a 1,050 km swath with 25 km resolution and more than 70% uptime. Veery’s dynamic range covers 3–27 m/s with speed errors below 1.6 m/s and directional errors below 11^°, matching the performance of previous scatterometers from a much smaller satellite. Veery’s small size is enabled by a flat satellite form factor that vertically integrates the instrument and bus. That small size makes it affordable for deployment in a constellation …

Innocube – First In-Orbit Results Of The Fully Wireless Satellite Data Bus, Tom Baumann, Erik Dilger, Sergio Montenegro, Felix Sittner, Moritz Arbab, Thomas Walter

Small Satellite Conference

The Innovative CubeSat for Education (InnoCube) mission is a technology demonstration CubeSat that relies entirely on a wireless data bus for intra satellite communication. It was launched in January 2025 onboard SpaceX Transporter-12. This paper presents the mission objectives and initial results, with a particular focus on the performance and reliability of the wireless system.

InnoCube is a collaborative project between the University of Wuerzburg and Technische Universität Berlin in Germany. Its primary objectives are to demonstrate the feasibility of a fully wireless data bus for intra-satellite communication, provide a testbed for new technologies, and offer students hands-on experience in …

Shrink: Story Of A Fat Girl [Book Review], Jessica Luetger

Disability in LIS (DisLIS)

Armed with research, personal experience, and stunning art, Rachel M. Thomas shows readers the experience of being a fat woman and how society regularly views, fears, and tries to control fat bodies.

The Auroral X-Ray Imager (Axis), Andrew Holland, Karen Holland, David Colebrook, Thomas Buggey, Chiaki Crews, Michael Hubbard, Colin Forsyth, William Dunn, Shyama Narendranath, Srikar Tadepalli, Anurag Tyagi, Koushal Vadodariya, Douglas Jordan

Small Satellite Conference

The interaction of the solar wind with the Earth is a subject of significant study. One phenomenon is the occurrence of aurorae at the polar regions, resulting from the interaction of particles in the solar wind with the atmosphere, often giving light shows which captures the publics’ imagination. These energetic interactions also extend to X-ray wavelengths. Whilst aurorae have been studied for generations in the visible, the X-ray emission of aurorae has only been observed by a couple of spacecraft, with a paucity of data. There are only a couple of instances of emission intensity having been measured, but without …

Seeing 230 Ident: A Compact, High-Precision Zerodur®-Based Imager For Smallsat, A. Bouée, X. Bozec, J. L. Carel, F. Dong, V. Dumont, L. Duveau, P. Manfredi, V. Mengeling, R. Philipps, S. Ques, C. Soncin, L. Swyngedauw

Small Satellite Conference

The SEEING 230 IDENT is a compact space imager based on a ZERODUR^® main structure. It provides a ground sampling distance of 1 meter when operating at an altitude of 500 km. The optical layout adopts a space-efficient Korsch design, optimized for compactness and performance. This paper provides a comprehensive presentation of the instrument’s main specifications, its opto-mechanical concept, and the experimentally validated performance.

Ninjasat Achievements And Lessons Learned, Toru Tamagawa, Takao Kitaguchi, Yo Kato, Tatehiro Mihara, Kentaro Taniguchi, Teruaki Enoto, Tomoshi Takeda, Hiromitsu Takahashi, Naoyuki Ota, Amira Aoyama, Satoko Iwata, Takuya Takahashi, Kaede Yamasaki, Yousuke Nakano, Soma Tsuchiya, Yuto Yoshida, Syoki Hayashi, Sota Watanabe, Arata Jujo, Yuanhui Zhou, Keisuke Uchiyama, Wataru Iwakiri, Mayu Ichibakase, Masaki Numazawa, Hiroki Sato, Chin-Ping Hu, Hirokazu Odaka, Tsubasa Tamba

Small Satellite Conference

NinjaSat is a 6U CubeSat dedicated to X-ray astrophysics, launched on November 11, 2023. Scientific observations began on February 23, 2024, and as of June 27, 30 X-ray sources have been observed, yielding numerous scientific outputs. Beyond its primary mission of astronomical observations, NinjaSat has contributed to additional fields, including X-ray pulsar-based navigation, atmospheric studies using X-rays passing through Earth’s limb, investigations of atmospheric structure through orbital decay analysis, and studies of the relationship between the orbital radiation environment and solar activity. By expanding beyond its initial astronomical focus, NinjaSat has demonstrated the versatile potential of scientific CubeSats. This paper …

Climate - Commercial And Scientific Instrument Opportunities For Small Satellite Constellations, Alex Da Silva Curiel, Rob Elliott, Tony Canas, Stephanie Mottershead, Andy Palfreyman, Martin Sweeting Sir

Small Satellite Conference

There is an economic and social impact in many areas in the world due to lack of information on local climate, and better understanding is widely believed to lead to cost savings and improved living standards. Despite the wealth of spacecraft data available today, many climate variables are still poorly monitored. Small satellites in constellation can help in filling data gaps, and also provides the important temporal resolution required. Such missions could be highly complementary to the NASA NEO and EU Copernicus programs, and their data can be commercially valuable, opening up the potential for novel business models and services. …

Launch Fast Learn Fast: Lessons Learned From The R5-S2 And R5-S4 Missions, James Berck, Sam Pedrotty, Jack Wisbiski, Morgan Alexander, Kathryn Knesek, Ruth May, Jacob Nunez-Kearny, Rob Stoddard, Thomas Kirven, Robin Onsay, Roger Hunter

Small Satellite Conference

The Realizing Rapid, Reduced-cost high-Risk Research (R5) project is pushing the envelope on minimizing cost and schedule for complex spacecraft that support low Technology Readiness Level payload demonstration in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). R5 has recently designed, built, launched, and operated multiple spacecraft that are iteratively and incrementally delivering improved payload hosting capabilities while maintaining cost targets (< $100k in materials per bus) and schedule targets (launching at least two spacecraft per year). This paper will describe the unique architecture, approach, technological advancements, and lessons learned from the project. The primary stakeholder for R5 is the Small Spacecraft Technology program within the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA with the project based out of Johnson Space Center.

To achieve the aggressive cost and schedule targets, R5 is redefining the understanding of how much rigor, quality, and robustness are required to succeed in high-risk LEO missions. Starting with a clean-slate for process and system design, R5 has charted a path, …

Pushing The Boundaries With The Thinsat And Troop Platforms: Flight Results Of Recent Launches Testing New Systems, Matt Orvis, John Pugsley, Nathan Turner

Small Satellite Conference

Flash Talk presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

Development Of Turbopump For Zero Rocket Engine, Hiroshi Tomaru, Shinnosuke Yabuki, Shota Yamanaka, Ryosuke Tomiyama

Small Satellite Conference

Flash Talk presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

Using Capstone’S Mission Extension To Navigate The Future Of Cislunar Technology, Alec Forsman, Michael Caudill, Anthony Zara, Matthew Givens, Rebecca Rogers, Lauren De Moudt, Ethan Kayser, Thomas Gardner

Small Satellite Conference

Launched in late June 2022, the Cislunar Autonomous Position System Technology, Operations, and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) has been operating in the Earth-Moon, Southern L2 Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) for more than two years. After successfully completing its primary mission objectives, CAPSTONE was awarded a 15-month mission extension in September of 2024. The goal of this extension was to continue to use CAPSTONE to provide valuable and informative data to the NASA Gateway program and leverage the platform to raise the TRL of several cislunar technologies. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the operational data obtained throughout the mission, …

Expanding Cubesat Horizons: A 27u Mission To Sun-Earth L5, Tabitha Patrick, Allen Martinez, Aimee Dew, Shane Hancock, Michael Generale

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSats have gained increasing popularity in the aerospace industry due to their compact, modular designs, which offer a cost-effective and versatile solution for orbital applications. Historically limited to low Earth orbit (LEO) due to propulsion and communication constraints, CubeSats are now being explored for deeper space missions. The Icarus mission seeks to demonstrate that a 27U CubeSat can operate at the Sun–Earth Lagrange Point 5 (L5), leveraging recent advancements in efficient electric propulsion and deployable subsystems to monitor solar activity and relay data back to Earth. By capitalizing on a standardized CubeSat form factor with commercial off-the-shelf components, Icarus offers …

Sardonyx: A Building Block Towards In-Space Assembly, Michael Swartwout

Small Satellite Conference

In-space assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) is an enabling capability for future space missions, and one where small satellites can play an essential role. Of the many technologies needed for ISAM, the Sardonyx mission will demonstrate two: capture of noncooperative resident space objects and close-proximity, agile maneuvering. Sardonyx is a partnership between Saint Louis University, Cambrian Works and Bennett Research Technologies.

The baseline design consists of a single 12U-scale spacecraft carrying multiple deployable Objectives. Each Objective will expand to at least a meter in diameter and be gently released. The Sardonyx spacecraft will detect the target, maneuver to within a few …

Debrisfind: A Cubesat Mission For Evaluating Space Debris Flux In Low Earth Orbit, Ishriak Ahmed, Imraan A. Faruque

Small Satellite Conference

Proliferation in low earth orbits, both operational satellites and defunct or debris items, poses a significant challenge to the long-term sustainability of space operations, and the difficulties in tracking and measuring mm-scale has increased the uncertainty of contemporary statistical models like the NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) and ESA MASTER and their statistical debris flux predictions. This uncertainty both complicates orbital mission risk assessment and impedes remediation efforts. This paper develops a CubeSat mission that informs these statistical models through in situ flux determination, providing a comparison of debris flux levels in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The optimum orbit …

Development Of Model Predictive Control Approach For Precise De-Orbit Of Nanosatellite Using Aerodynamic Drag, Tian Xie, Takashige Suzuki, Maximilien Berthet

Small Satellite Conference

Small satellite missions in low Earth orbit (LEO) can utilize propellant-free aerodynamic drag for maneuvering, but achieving precise orbit control is challenged by non-linearities and uncertainties. This paper proposes a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) framework designed for precise trajectory tracking under these conditions. By focusing on following a given reference path, our NMPC controller overcomes time-varying perturbations (e.g., J2, J3, J4 effects). We validated this tracking-focused approach with simulations incorporating stochastic atmospheric models. Monte Carlo analysis, using controlled de-orbiting profiles as reference trajectories, demonstrates that our NMPC system provides a powerful tool for enabling precise, propellant-free maneuvers. This work …

Review Of Microgravity Biotechnology For Space Applications: The Anujiva Perspective, Saranya Ravva, Yukti Makkar, Abeneth Ramachandran, Sai Kiran Parre

Small Satellite Conference

Biomanufacturing in microgravity presents transformative opportunities for biotechnology beyond the limitations of terrestrial environments. Gravity-driven convection, sedimentation, and contamination risks often hinder biological productivity on Earth. In contrast, space-based conditions enhance protein crystallization, three-dimensional cell culture, and the production of novel biomaterials. This review synthesizes recent advancements in microgravity-enabled biotechnology, drawing from recent peer-reviewed literature and mission data.

We focus on the emerging field of autonomous bioreactor systems for space applications, emphasizing innovations in miniaturization, closed-loop environmental control, and real-time sensing. As a representative case study, we examine the AnuJIVA initiative, a CubeSat-based platform engineered for cultivating microorganisms such as …

Outer Planet Exploration By Novel And Small Spacecraft: Jaxa’S Opens Program Concept And Its First Mission Opens-0, Ryu Funase, Naoya Ozaki, Hajime Yano, Isas/Jaxa Opens Working Group

Small Satellite Conference

The OPENS (Outer Planet Exploration by Novel Small spacecraft) program, proposed by JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), aims to revolutionize outer planet exploration through the use of small, low-cost spacecraft. Unlike traditional flagship-class missions, OPENS promotes high-frequency, high-risk, high-return missions that can be achieved even by countries with limited resources. The program’s first mission, OPENS-0, targets the demonstration of key technologies necessary for future small outer planet explorers, including solar-powered spacecraft operations and long-term hibernation capability. The spacecraft will be launched by JAXA’s Epsilon S rocket and perform gravity assists en route to Saturn, with the earliest …

High Resolution, Wide Swath Sar Observation From Disksat At Vleo, Hirobumi Saito, Yasuyuki Miyazaki, Michio Takikawa, Tien M. Nguyen, Roy Nakagawa, Ching-Yao (Tony) Chang, David Hinkley, Ryo Natsuaki, Mitsuteru Kaneoka, Jiro Hirokawa, Kazuyuki Nakamura

Small Satellite Conference

This paper proposes a novel concept of quasi-two-dimensional SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellites, SAR DiskSats, featuring a deployable passive slot array antenna (De-PSAA) that can be compactly folded within the quasi-two-dimensional (Q-2D) satellite body. This Q-2D configuration allows for potential flexible solar cell sheets to be installed on the backside of the antenna, as the antennas do not dissipate heat. This satellite configuration is also suitable for stacking within a rocket fairing for the mega-constellation launch of SAR DiskSats into VLEO (very low Earth orbit). The proposed DiskSat's thin edge cross-section reduces aerodynamic drag, enabling the satellite to operate at …

Astra – Autonomous Satellite Technology For Resilient Applications: A Technology Demonstrator, Lauren Underwood, Fernando Figueroa, Zachary Lewton, Landon Tynes, Travis Martin, Jonathan Morris, Quentin Oswald, John Curry

Small Satellite Conference

ASTRA is an on-orbit technology demonstrator establishing a new paradigm for implementing on-board “thinking.” ASTRA is a system-level autonomy capability (including digital twins, anomaly detection, diagnostics/prognostics, and mission management) enabled by an innovative technology, NPAS - NASA Platform for Autonomous Systems. NPAS is developed by NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC) Autonomous Systems Laboratory (ASL) with support from NASA Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) Advanced Exploration Systems and Mars Campaign Office. ASTRA leverages NPAS for on-board “thinking” autonomy. ASTRA also includes advanced hardware required for implementing autonomy. ASTRA Flight Software (FS) is running on commercial hardware that provides the computational …

Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment-3: The Third Hypersonic Flight Of The Krups Capsules, Bruno Tacchi, Eric T. Adams, Alexander R. Barrera, Asa C. O'Neal, Aaron Cramer, James E. Lumpp, Savio J. Poovathingal, Alexandre Martin

Small Satellite Conference

The Kentucky Re-entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS) is a small flight capsule with dimensions of 11 by 8.5 inches and a sphere-cone geometry. KRUPS aims to serve as a cost-effective testbed for hypersonic atmospheric entry experiments, collecting thermal response and flight data during re-entry and testing novel thermal protection systems (TPS). The forebody of the capsule is fitted with an instrumented TPS containing thermocouples and pressure ports. Furthermore, the instrumentation suite contains a high-g accelerometer, a GPS, an IMU, and a spectrometer.

The KRUPS project started in 2013. Since then, the capsule has flown five sounding rocket missions, a high-altitude …

On-Orbit Validation Of An Ai-Enabled Cloud Removal And Compression Solution For Eo Satellites, Rosana Rodríguez-Bobada, Jose Manuel Heredia-Oliver, Pablo Tomás Toledano González, Carlos Espinosa-Peral, José Luis Espinosa-Aranda, Tom Hendrix, Amaury Perrocheau, David Rijlaarsdam, Aubrey Dunne

Small Satellite Conference

Optical Earth Observation (EO) sensors can be significantly affected by atmospheric conditions, particularly cloud cover, which can obscure their images and reduce the information content in the final image. It is estimated that over 50% of the Earth’s surface is covered by clouds at any given moment. As a result, up to half of the data captured by visible EO satellite imagers is rendered unusable for most applications. Transmitting this unusable data, even in a compressed form, unnecessarily utilises valuable communications downlink bandwidth. This is particularly acute for hyperspectral EO missions, where the tens to hundreds of bands per acquisition …

Novel Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver For Characterization Of Ionospheric Scintillation And Plasma Bubbles With A Cubesat Swarm, William Gullotta, John Braun, Jan-Peter Weiss, Nicholas Pedatella, Qian Wu

Small Satellite Conference

Ionospheric scintillation and equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are phenomena related to turbulence and depletion in the plasmas in the ionosphere. EPBs are depletions in the plasma density in the equatorial region in the post-sunset period. These depletions can lead to turbulent irregularities in the amplitude and phase of communications signals, called scintillation. Scintillation also occurs in the polar regions, where it is caused by particle precipitation and convection. EPBs and scintillation in low- and high- latitudes both have an impact on the quality and availability of space-based communication and navigation systems which leads to a high demand for observations from …

The Shorthorn: May 15, 1956

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1950s

No abstract provided.