Engineering Commons^™

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Based Heat Exchanger On The Martian, Sarah Guinn

Discovery Day - Prescott

The use of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) in power cycles has been fairly new in the last decade. Due to this, there is a lack in research for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications. The purpose of this project is to utilize sCO2 as a working fluid and design and optimize a Brayton Cycle based heat exchanger on the Martian surface. Due to the lack of water on Mars, this research will provide a stronger analysis of planetary based drycooling processes in low atmospheric pressure and colder temperatures. We have been conducting an in-depth analysis of the heat exchanger by modeling …

Nanosat Tracking And Identification Techniques And Technologies, Mark A. Skinner

Space Traffic Management Conference

Nanosats (and CubeSats, ‘Smallsats’, etc.) are of order 10 cm in size, and are at or near the limits of what can be tracked and characterized, using existing space surveillance assets. Additionally, given the CubeSat form-factor, they are often launched in large numbers (scores), and can be virtually identical. Thus are they difficult to track and to identify.

We have identified a number of technologies that future nanosat missions could employ that would enhance the trackability and/or identification of their satellites when on-orbit. Some of these technologies require active illumination of the satellite with electromagnetic energy, either in the radio …

Spectral Mixture Modeling Using Principle Component Analysis, Joseph S. Makarewicz, Heather D. Makarewicz

Scholar Week 2016 - present

A method for modeling mixtures between two end-member spectra using principle component analysis and linear regression was presented. The presentation included results from three binary mixture data sets including orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene, kaolinite-montmorillonite, and nontronite-ferrihydrite.

Design And Evaluation Of 3d-Printed Filar Micrometer, Emily Rull

Scholar Week 2016 - present

This project sought to design and 3D-print a filar micrometer for double star measurements that amateur astronomers could produce cost effectively.

Double stars are celestial objects that allow the mass of stars to be calculated by assessing their orbits. Stellar mass affects every current model of stellar evolution, but the most accurate double star orbits can take decades to record. As a result of the long-term nature of such observations and lack of groundbreaking research in double star studies, professional astronomers are no longer focused on making these measurements. This allows amateur astronomers to pick up where professionals have left …

Solar Eclipse Induced Atmospheric Turbulence Effects On High Altitude Balloons, Fnu Anamika, Denise Buckner, Peter Henson, Jennifer Fowler, Nanette Valentour

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The North Dakota Atmospheric Education Student Initiated Research (ND-AESIR) team launched a balloon during the total solar eclipse in Rexburg, Idaho. After the umbra’s passage, the balloon experienced unexpectedly high levels of atmospheric turbulence. Video footage taken from the payload displays the conditions, and analysis of flight path data models created from the iridium GPS confirm that unusually violent turbulence occurred. These forces caused the key rings holding the bottom of the parachute to the payload train to rip open; the balloon and parachute flew away and the payloads free fell to the surface from an altitude of 68,301 feet. …

Evaluation Of Radiation And Design Criteria For A Lunar Habitat, Hayley E. Bower, Daniel Gomez, Antonio Bobet, Julio A. Ramirez, Shirley J. Dyke, H. Jay Melosh

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Extraterrestrial habitation has long been the object of science fiction, and experts in the fields of science and engineering have proposed many designs for a lunar base. The research conducted has focused on either structural stability, radiation protection, or meteorite-impact vulnerabilities, but rarely have these been considered together. The Resilient ExtraTerrestrial Habitats (RETH) project aims to design a lunar habitat from a hazards perspective, considering general degradation, meteorite impacts, seismic activity, radiation exposure, thermal extremes, and geomagnetic storms in addition to the physiological, psychological, and sociological aspects of astronauts living in such a habitat. Several members of the RETH team …

Commercial Space Situational Awareness (Ssa) Capabilities And Their Benefits For Civilian Space Traffic Management (Stm), Mark A. Skinner

Space Traffic Management Conference

Paralleling (but lagging) satellite development, SSA, long the sole domain of sophisticated militaries, now includes commercial providers. These commercial capabilities, identified as beneficial to the sustainable use of outer space[1], have demonstrated technical sophistication sufficient to positively contribute to the mitigation of satellite interference and provide actionable SSA information. Utilizing small optical telescopes, these entities are able to determine the orbits of objects in the geosynchronous orbit (GSO) to sizes as small as 1 m², with measured positional uncertainties of 10s of meters, on the order of the size of a modern communications satellite. These techniques …

Directional Camera Control On High Altitude Balloons, Matthew M. Plewa, Brent Scharlau

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The research reported in this paper examined the design and control of a gimbal for solar eclipse tracking and video recording. The gimbal design required 3 axes of rotation to allow for full range of motion. Utilizing individual brushless motors for each of the axes ensure minimum rotational requirements on each axes. In controlling the gimbal, both a mathematical and visual method were utilized. The mathematical method is a modified version of what is currently used for solar array pointing. The visual method looks at where the position of the sun is within the image and determines what angle changes …