CubeSat Deorbit Device Final Report

1. MAE 435 Fall 2013 CubeSat Deorbit DeviceFinal Report

2. 435 Team Members SahilDhali Christopher Quarles Michael Foch Brockton BasketteKyle Wade Cian Branco Advisor: Dr. Robert Ash, P.E.

3. Introduction • Space debris are a serious hazard to continued Space exploration • Dead CubeSats are hard to track • De-Orbit Device Project aimed at Prototype for 1U CubeSats

4. Overview • De-orbit Device Project is multidepartment effort between the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Departments • MAE 435 Group’s goal to build the prototype

5. Team Gantt Chart

6. Benzoic Acid • Sublimation at room temperature

7. Inflation Requirements • Sounding Rocket Altitude: 160kms. • Pressure for sublimation@160kms: 1.42*10-6 • Temperature for sublimation@160kms: -41’C

8. Large Vacuum Chamber

9. Difficulties • Unknown leak in large vacuum chamber • Extensive man hours spent troubleshooting and brainstorming solutions • Ultimately had to resort to using small vacuum chamber

10. Small Vacuum Chamber

11. Small Chamber Cont. • The small chamber reaches minimum pressure around 3 minutes

12. Preliminary Heating Element • Design required to fit inside small chamber at minimal cost • Prototype: Steel wire wound around itself in the shape of a Fermat’s Spiral. • Operates on 4 AA batteries.

13. Preliminary Heating Element Cont. • The element can achieve temperatures between 60’C to 85’C • The spiral grill was designed to create a flat surface area with as much contact with the plate holding the benzoic acid.

14. Pros/Cons • Materials readily available • Inexpensive • Easy to modify design • Difficult to control heat output • Power runs out quickly • Requires Direct Contact

15. New Heating Element: E-Cigarette • Default temperature:65-80 ‘C • Potentially can go up to 180’C with appropriate voltage. • Made of 4 major parts: • The LED light cover • The lithium battery • The Atomizer (heating element) • The mouth piece

16. Our E-Cig Heating Element • Fig 1 shows the mouth of the piece where the airbrake would be attached with the epoxy. • Fig 2 shows the top view of the heating element. The benzoic acid crystal would be secured on the screen over the heating coil. • Fig 3 shows the battery pack we used to perform the experiment. It attches to the bottom of the element and powers to heat the coil visible in fig.2. Fig 1 Fig 3 Fig 2

17. Pros/Cons of Using E-Cig Atomiser • Extremely light weight; usually Al alloy;….. Weight Constraint: Check • Safe and easy to use and store;….. Storing and lasting Constraint: Check • Power efficient; Works on a 3.1V – 6.7V to achieve max heating capabilities;….. Power Constraint: Check • Size is significantly smaller than previous design, but needs to be more compact….. Space Constraint: Not Check • Bowl on which acid to be secured cannot hold all the acid required for complete deployment….. Container Volume Constraint: Not Check

18. Conclusion: Heating Element • Meets our temperature requirements, which was our main concern. • The on board lithium battery should be enough to power our heater. • This device is powered by a button which has to be manually pressed • Now all that is needed for the heating element is a bigger bowl to store the complete amount of the acid, securing it in the mylar.

19. Final Steps • Design remote activation for heating element • Fit all the parts together for one final test before launch.

20. ODU Satellite Ground Station • Operates mission specific transceivers, antennas, transmission lines, amplifiers and digital signal processing. • Intended to communicate with orbiting weather satellites and amateur radios to obtain earth images and current prevailing weather conditions. • Designed to receive data from NOAA weather satellites. • OUR PURPOSE: Use the SGS to keep constant communication with our CubeSat to obtain its position coordinates and signal to deploy the airbrake on command.

21. Balloon Airbrake • Material - Aluminized Mylar for its strength and reflectivity. (DuPont Films) • Target Cross-sectional area – 1 m2 • The inflation medium will be benzoic acid.

22. Constraints • Benzoic Acid Pressure • Pmin > 0.1813 Pa (greater than environment @ 90 km) • Partial Pressure of Air • Ambient air in balloon is to be removed to prevent premature inflation • Benzoic Acid Placement • Must absorb enough heat from heating element to reach sublimation

23. Mylar Inflatable Status • New material from (Coated Product Sales) was ideal for sealing. • Rectangular Cross-Section (Pillow shape) was used. • Cross-sectional area may need to be reduced due to chamber volume.

24. Benzoic Acid Storage • Benzoic acid stored in a washer with a screen. • Epoxied (cold welded) to inflatable. • Located on the inner surface of balloon.

25. Inflatable Prep • Vacuum Seal-Off Fitting – OerlikonLeybold product • Predesigned to seal off during vacuuming, solid heat conduction, low weight and small profile • Vacuum seal-off fitting was press-fit into the bottom of chamber • Balloon will be epoxy sealed to the fitting

26. Inflatable Prep • During removal of ambient air, the material was sucked into the valve exhaust creating a seal. • Did not allow for all ambient air to be evacuated. • Solutions included folding the balloon before pumping, a pump with a throttle and/or collapsible stent.

27. Balloon Chamber • Provides a pressurized zone to house the balloon. • Contains a valve mounted in the bottom surface. • Current prototype does not account for camera mounting

29. Chamber Testing • Single layer of Kapton failed. • Punctured by sharp corners of chamber cap

30. Chamber Testing Cont.

31. More Testing • 5 mil Mylar holds pressure with 2 gaskets • There are multiple points of deformation in membrane

32. Remaining Challenges • Mounting doors on pins • Locking mechanism to keep the doors closed

33. Conclusion • Prototype in current state reduces chance for waste • Overall Goal to pass working prototype to current 434 students at end of the semester has been met • Hand-off to occur next week

34. Questions? Questions? Comments? Concerns?Thank you!