Introduction to Space Systems Design Studio
The Space Systems Design Studio is a research group at Cornell University's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering headed by Professor Mason Peck. Professor Peck brings his experience in spacecraft research and development from NASA as their Chief Technologist in 2012 and works with graduate and undergraduate students in developing new spacecraft technologies and flight experiments involving those experiments. The research subjects include autonomous navigation, flux pinning, eddy-current actuation, chip satellite development and alternative space propulsion methods.
My work revolves around the ALPHA CubeSat Flight Experiment, a 1U CubeSat designed to release a light sail fitted with chip satellites as a demonstration of using light as a means of propulsion for small spacecraft travelling to distant celestial bodies.
Fig. 1 General Schematic of Light Sail
What is a CubeSat?
A CubeSat is a miniature satellite that has standardized dimensions and has a number of restrictions on mass, geometry, emission capabilities, and more. A 1U CubeSat has the dimensions of 1 "unit", being a cube of 10 x 10 x 10 cm, and has a maximum mass of 1.33 kg. The benefit of designing a CubeSat is that many separate flight experiments from different entities can be deployed from a single launch mission. A number of small CubeSats will fit into a "peapod" deployer, cutting costs of designing rockets and deployment mechanisms specific to a satellite's geometry and sharing launch costs between multiple flight experiments. CubeSat programs have enabled universities, companies and other entities to perform space research at a considerably more affordable cost.
Fig. 1 An early prototype of the ALPHA CubeSat Project
My Role
I joined the ALPHA CubeSat development team in January 2019, and was initially tasked subsystem testing and documentation. This involved testing specific components of the satellite in a "flat satellite" configuration, where all the electronics are laid out on a set of breadboards to simulate the operation of the satellite. This process avoids the need to disassemble and assemble a prototype CubeSat in order to perform short, small tests on various subsystems. Handling the documentation of all test reports and the Verification Cross Reference Matrix gave me a greater insight into the project on a macroscopic scale, which helped me understand the various requirements and procedures associated satellite development.
My work in 2020 involves guiding newly recruited members in learning how tests are conducted and familiarizing them with the details of the project. I am primarily responsible for the design and manufacture of various rigs and assemblies for the CubeSat to run specific tests. These can vary from a simple rotary mount for the light sail to test the connectivity of the chip satellites, to advanced rigs that simulate the rotation of the CubeSat during sail deployment.
Fig. 2 Rotation rig Designed for Simulating Sail Deployment Conditions
Fig. 3 Vibration Test Rig for Satellite Batteries
Fig. 4 Inexpensive Rig for Rotating Light Sail during Communication Test
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