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Misson Statement
The purpose of this design project is to provide a system to monitor and control the power being delivered to various key components aboard the Space Science and Engineering Lab’s BarnacleSat, or CubeSat+, class satellite, Electra. In the event of a power problem, the sensor network must be able to detect the event, determine the severity of the problem, and disconnect the malfunctioning component from the satellite’s power bus. Health information is also logged for later transmission to a ground station for analysis.
A satellite is confronted with different conditions while operating in orbit compared to functioning on a laboratory bench. One such concern is the flash memory module onboard the satellite receiving a charged particle strike while in orbit. This charged particle can cause the flash memory to latch-up which would result in a dangerous increase in current draw. Left unchecked, this current draw can destroy the flash memory, resulting in complete mission failure. Therefore, a reliable and accurate system is required to ensure a fault is detected and resolved quickly so that the memory can be reset without damage.
Electra Background
The mission of Electra will be to test the deorbiting capability of an electrodynamic tether to aid in slowing the accumulation of “space junk” in orbit around the Earth. The electrodynamic tether will drag through the Earth’s magnetic field and decrease an orbiting object’s total kinetic energy to bring it out of orbit more rapidly than if left alone. CubeSat class satellites are especially troublesome as they can remain in orbit for more than 25 years when placed in high orbits. Electra will be deployed from the upper stage of a booster carrying a primary payload and remain connected to the booster by a tether. High resolution GPS data will be collected to monitor the deployment of the tether and this data will be stored in the flash memory module to be transmitted to the ground for analysis. Protection of this data is vital to the success of the mission, which is the driving consideration for the sensor network.
The Team
Nathan Greenfield (M ’06) was born in Billings, Montana on June 24, 1984. Currently, Nathan is planning to graduate with a bachelors in electrical engineering in the Spring of 2007 from Montana State University-Bozeman.
He has worked for the Space Science and Engineering Laboratory at MSU for the past to years and is at present the Systems Engineer for the Electra Satellite Project. He is also working with other students in the SSEL on a DARPA funded electromagnetic docking system.
Mr. Greenfield is an active member of Tau Beta Pi, the president of the MSU chapter of Eta Kappa Nu and a member of the student chapter of IEEE.
David Meyn is a 27 year old native of Belgrade, MT. He is attending Montana State University and will graduate in December 2006 with a degree in Computer Engineering and a minor in Electrical Engineering.
He is a member of the Montana Air National Guard and a specialist in F-16 Avionics.
Joshua J. Miller of Helena, MT was born on July 1, 1983. Joshua is expecting to earn his degree in Computer Engineering and minor in Electrical Engineering from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT in the spring of 2007.
He interned as a test engineer for IntruGuard Devices during the summer of 2005 in San Jose, CA. His current interests focus on embedded systems as well as software engineering.
System Diagram
Development Board
Satallite
