Space-Related Undergraduate Research

Opportunities

Chris HallRandolph 224D, 231-2314

cdhall@vt.eduhttp://www.aoe.vt.edu/

~cdhall

Chris HallRandolph 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

• 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

• 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 HokieSatX

Utah State

U of Washington /Cornell

Virginia Tech

•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

•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

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)

• 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

• 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

• 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