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Space-Related Undergraduate Research Opportunities. Chris Hall Randolph 224D, 231-2314 cdhall@vt.edu http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~cdhall. My Background. 20 years in the USAF technician, satellite systems engineer, and professor 5½ years at the Air Force Institute of Technology
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Space-Related Undergraduate Research Opportunities Chris Hall Randolph 224D, 231-2314 cdhall@vt.eduhttp://www.aoe.vt.edu/~cdhall
My Background • 20 years in the USAF • technician, satellite systems engineer, and professor • 5½ years at the Air Force Institute of Technology • Taught space systems engineering, nonlinear dynamics and control • 27 M.S. students and 3 Ph.D. students in space-related research • 5 years at Virginia Tech • Teaching space design and spacecraft dynamics and control • 11 M.S. students and 3 Ph.D. graduated, now working at NASA, USAF, Lockheed-Martin, Analytical Graphics, a.i.-Solutions, Orbital Sciences, AeroAstro, RealTime Inc., Draper Lab • Currently advising 3 Ph.D. students, 5 M.S. students, as well as several undergrads • Research supported by NASA, NSF, and USAF
Space-Related Courses • Astromechanics– required course on orbital motion • Satellite Tracking Lab in Randolph 311A will give students hands-on experience in tracking amateur satellites, and may someday be used as ground station for HokieSat • Attitude Dynamics and Control– tech elective on satellite pointing motion (required for Space Design) • Space Systems Simulation Lab will give students hands-on experience in attitude dynamics and control • Space Design– Senior Capstone Design Course • Students work in teams to design a space vehicle • HokieSat started as a senior design project • Sounding Rocket payload is current long-term project
Virginia Tech Ionospheric Scintillation Measurement Mission (VT-ISMM )aka HokieSat • VT-ISMM: AOE, Computer and Electrical Engineering, faculty, undergraduate and graduate students • ION-F: Ionosphere Observation Nanosatellite Formation (VT, Utah State, and U. of Washington) • University Nanosatellite Program (AFRL & DARPA, 10 universities) • NASA/Goddard Distributed Space Systems Enterprise • Cast of dozens! Graduate and undergraduate Utah State U of Washington / Cornell Virginia Tech X
Spacecraft Simulators • Distributed Spacecraft Attitude Control System Simulator (DSACSS) • Two spherical air bearings with assorted subsystems • Hardware integration, software development • Jana Schwartz (g), Marcus Pressl (g), Eugene Skelton (g), Mike Shoemaker (u), Cengiz Akinli (u)
Astrodynamics Toolbox • Develop a suite of subroutines in Matlab and/or C++ • Develop graphical user interfaces for typical AOE 4134 calculations % function [oe,epoch,yr,M,E,satname] = TLE2oe(fname); % fname is a filename string for a file containing % a two-line element set (TLE) % oe is a 1/6 matrix containing the orbital elements % [a e i Om om nu] % yr is the two-digit year % M is the mean anomaly at epoch % E is the eccentric anomaly at epoch % satname is the satellite name % % Calls Newton iteration function file EofMe.m function [oe,epoch,yr,M,E,satname] = TLE2oe(fname) % Open the file up and scan in the elements ……………………
Literature Review • Help identify significant patents, technical reports, and other documents using library resources • Control moment gyros and momentum wheels • Spacecraft simulators • Plasma and solar sails • Optimal orbit transfers