Triggered Aerodynamic Resistance and Drag by Increase in Surface:
UMD NearSpace Proof-of-Concept Re-Entry Payload
Benjamin Brotzman - [email protected]
Science, Discovery, and the UniverseAerospace Engineering
The goal of the University of Maryland Balloon Payload Program is to provide
easy access to “near-space” for students who cannot afford a launch vehicle.
The “Triggered Aerodynamic Resistance and Drag by Increase in Surface” or
TARDIS payload for short is a project of the program dedicated to designing and
testing potential deployable re-entry heatshields for cubesats.
Cubesats are very useful thanks to their compactness and cost-effectiveness. However, they are non-recoverable
above certain altitudes due to atmospheric heating through friction
during re-entry. By designing a collapsible heatshield, future cubesats
will retain the compactness that makes them popular and will also be
recoverable for better science acquisition and reusability.
Project Background
Up-to-date CAD model of the TARDIS Payload. Note the umbrella-like heatshield design
University of Maryland Space Systems Lab
MDSGC Balloon Payload Program
University of Maryland Manufacturing Building
8197 Regents Dr, College Park, MD 20740
Location
I am a member of the electronics team. While I am relatively new to the project,
from the beginning I was entrusted with various important tasks such as
soldering sensors to designing and wiring circuits for the payload.
I used a program known as Autodesk EAGLE to design the circuit schematic
for the payload using a pinout sheet created by the electronics team as a
whole as a reference. This was the most important part of what I did on the
TARDIS team as the placement of the wires and sensors was essentially determined by me. If there was
something that I left out, things could go wrong.
Activities
I’d like to thank my mentor Derek Whittle, the TARDIS Team, UMD NearSpace, Dr.
Bowden, Dr. Peel, and the scholars community for supporting me throughout
this process
Acknowledgements
TARDIS Circuit Schematic
The work that has been done through the TARDIS group will one day allow for
better access to space for students, amatuers, and scientists alike. Our
progress has even been noticed by Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX.
As for me, I learned what it meant to be on an engineering team. I learned about serial communication, how to effectively solder, how to design a schematic and so much more. I hope this internship helps propel me forwards into the Aerospace industry to places like NASA, SpaceX, or Northrop Grumman where I will able to
use the skills I learned to bring humanity closer to the stars.
Impact
This payload is planned to go through many iterations as it has already. We plan to
do drop tests from 10,000ft -> 50,000ft -> 100,00ft
before the project is finally revised to be launched on a sounding rocket
Future Work
Beginning work on actual circuit