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          T H E  S P A R T N I K  Countdown...
Your official newsletter from the San Jose State University
           Microsatellite Design Laboratory

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                  February 11, 1997
                    9:00 a.m. PST
                 Volume #1, Issue #3

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           -------------------------------
               Announcements In Brief
           -------------------------------

* Preparations are being made for satellite flight
  model assembly
* Sur-Lok Corporation named Sponsor of the Month
* Search for Launch Vehicle Begins
* Eric Abrahamsom named Mentor of the Month


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PROJECT MISSION STATEMENT:

-> To educate undergraduate students in the process of
   managing and developing a microsatellite.
-> To prepare the students for successful careers in
   the Aerospace Community, by creating an industry-like
   project environment.
-> To bring the direct involvement of industry into
   the education process through mentorship and project
   alliances.

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_____________________________________________________
How to contact us -

Prof. Hank Pernicka - (408) 924-4054
hank@voyager.engr.sjsu.edu

Kathy Morgan - (408) 776-4736
morgank@pluto.csd.com

Colleen Kennedy -
colleen@jupiter.engr.sjsu.edu
_____________________________________________________

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                  Meeting Milestones:

           Preparations for Flight Model
               Assembly are being Made

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Project Status<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

@ ATTITUDE DETERMINATION AND CONTROL
   ADAC has begun the final debugging stages of the attitude
   simulation program begun last semester.  The Equations of
   Motion (EOMs) have been programmed into MATLAB and have been
   fully debugged and are working correctly.  The model of the
   interaction of the permanent magnets with the Earth's
   magnetic field has been completed and is currently being
   debugged.  When finished this will allow ADAC to explore
   hardware recommendations for the permanent magnets as well
   as the possible addition of basalt along the outer shell of
   Spartnik. This semester ADAC's goals include: construction of
   hardware components related to ADAC for the flight model,
   calibration of the attitude determination program, and the
   writing of a paper to be presented at the Annual Region VI
   AIAA conference.


@ STRUCTURES
   The structures team is about half-way through production of
   all parts. Thus, there is assembly and testing left to
   complete as well in the Spring 1997 semester. The load is
   very heavy, but the structures team feels confident about
   finishing the Spartnik bus by semester's end. Testing
   involves looking at the antenna assembly, and the G&H
   separation mechanism. Further testing will involve all
   subsystems once the satellite bus has been built and
   integrated.  A clean room is in the works, and will be ready
   by mid-semester for the beginning assembly of Spartnik.


@ PAYLOAD
   One major goal for the Payload Subsystem Team was the
   redesign of the camera mounting. The previous camera
   box design failed the shake test which was performed
   over the summer and, since the fabrication of Spartnik
   began during October, the camera box was a priority. The
   Payload team quickly determined the weaknesses of
   the original camera mounting.  After obtaining input
   from industry advisors and several revisions, the
   final camera box design has been completed.

   Other significant accomplishments concerning the camera
   include testing of the modified, flight camera for
   power consumption and heat generation, and replacement
   of the lens assembly with a lens triplet/mirror
   periscope design.  Other details of the camera box,
   such as foam for vibration damping and inclusion of
   a copper braid to conduct heat from the camera, are
   being finalized.

   Because of its expense and difficulty to incorporate,
   the radiation sensor has been dropped from consideration
   for the third payload.  The payload team is currently
   researching a possible third experiment which will
   involve only minor software modifications and which
   will use cross-correlation of PN sequences and Doppler
   shift calculations to enable the ground station to
   determine Spartnik's orbital elements during a single
   pass over San Jose.


@ POWER
   The power subsystem took on the role of systems
   integrators and designed the wiring harness and
   assigned pin-to-pin connections for all the required
   hook-ups. The power team has finished building the
   required harness in the mockup structure. Battery
   construction has been completed and the protoflight
   batteries are entering the testing phase. Final
   designs of switching configurations and microswitches
   are progressing toward the testing phase.


@ THERMAL
   TCS has started a thermal analysis using SINDA software.
   It is hoped to be completed as soon as possible so that we
   can determine whether the satellite is working within
   desired parameters. Also, the black paint needed for the
   interior of Spartnik is being finalized and will be obtained
   by the end of February.


@ LAUNCH VEHICLE AND ORBIT
   Orbit simulations have begun in earnest at
   inclinations of 30, 60, 75, and 90 degrees with
   altitudes of 300, 500, 700, and 900 km at each
   inclination.  Orbit simulations are being run using POHOP
   software with J2, Solar Radiation Pressure and Third Body
   perturbations all "on".  Orbit simulations will also
   be performed on Orbview software to help visualize the
   simulated orbits.  Instant Track is another program that will
   be used to determine the minimum inclination and the amount
   of time Spartnik will spend over the SJSU ground station.

   On the matter of the Launch Vehicle (LV) for Spartnik, the
   search will begin in earnest with the following LVs being
   considered as likely candidates:

   	Ariane IV & V
	Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle
	Pegasus
	STS HitchHiker
	Taurus

   Of course this list does not mean that other LVs are not
   being considered so if anyone has a suggestion, please
   notify Jae W. In at the following email address:

	sebstian@newton.engr.sjsu.edu


@ COMPUTER HARDWARE
   Dr. Petersen and Jeff Nokes are currently working on
   finalizing the wire-wrapped version of the board.  We
   still need to acquire some of the hardware/chip sets;
   these parts will be ordered ASAP.   We also will be
   finalizing the design of the computer box to fit on
   Tray 1.


@ COMPUTER SOFTWARE
   John Bargamian is currently working on the RAMDisk driver
   and "file server" code.  He is also researching the SDLC
   chip in order to write specs for those required drivers.
   Tim Kimmet is currently finishing his specs on the PACSAT
   layer and File Header required for the upper layers of
   the communications protocol.  Upon completion he will
   begin coding. Danilo Unite has finished coding the AX.25
   and is currently looking into testing it using UNIX
   Sockets.  He will also be testing his code on the OBC
   when it is up and running. John Robison is currently
   working on setting up the Computer group Web server
   (for inhouse use only) and on updating the ground
   station application.  Jeff Nokes is working on updating
   the A/D drivers for the changed A/D design on the OBC.
   He is still continuing work on the specs for the overall
   event loop and the ground station application.


@ GROUND STATION
   We are currently acquiring a new SCSI hard drive to
   replace the current, unreliable one in the ground station
   PC.  The entire PC has been backed up using our new Zip
   Drive.  Norm Kow and Jeff Nokes are planning to have the ground
   station fully functioning in the next few weeks as we
   attempt to contact existing microsatellites already in
   orbit.


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           *****Sponsor of the Month****

                SHUR-LOK Corporation
                      Irvine, CA

           *******************************

Shur-Lok has recently donated the much needed inserts for
the flight model of Spartnik.  In the past they also
donated the 100 inserts used to build the protoflight
model.  Industry support like Shur-Lok is what makes
university projects like Spartnik possible.  The
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering faculty and the
Spartnik team thank Shur-Lok and Mr. Robert Skidmore
for their continual support of our project.

            Thanks Shur-Lok Corporation!
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Editor's Note:

Please contact the editor with any comments or
suggestions regarding the Spartnik Project; in
particular secondary payload launch opportunities,
educational collaboration interests, as well as
ideas on how to improve the project overall.
These welcomed responses will be posted in the
next newsletter.


}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{


        }}}}}Mentor of the Month{{{{{{

             Dr. Eric Abrahamson

       }}}}}}}}}}}}}}{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

Dr. Abrahamson, a Lockheed engineer and SJSU instructor,
has been very generous with both his time and expertise.
He was an important part of the camera box redesign by
guiding us in our development of different ideas, and
offering knowledge about structural analysis.  He has also
been important in finding camera box foam, a vacuum
chamber for flight component testing, and general structural
analysis of Spartnik.

Thank you Dr. Abrahamson!!


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SPECIAL THANKS TO.......

Over the past few years, many companies and
individuals have contributed in some way to project
Spartnik thus making it a reality for many students.
The team members and the Mechanical Aerospace Engineering
Department faculty would like to thank the following:

Lockheed Martin Corp.
Loral Space Systems
Applied Solar Energy Corp.
United Technologies Corp. - Chemical Systems Division
Optical Coating Laboratory Inc.
Shur-Lok Corporation
Satellite Power Corp.
Teledyne Corp.
Kodak
Logitech
Martin Marietta
Eagle Picher
Phillips Semiconductor
Teklam
Kajon Inc.
Stanford University - SSDL

    ........for their contributions...Thank you.
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*****************************************************
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:

The purpose of this newsletter is to inform industry
and universities about what is happening with San Jose
State's Spartnik project. This bi-monthly newsletter
is distributed, via email, to those who contributed,
sponsored or expressed interest in this project. Feel
free to forward this newsletter to any colleagues.
If you want to be added to the distribution list or
have questions or comments about the project or this
newsletter, send the information to:
             colleen@jupiter.engr.sjsu.edu
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, reply
to this message stating as such and your name will be removed.

Thank you,
Colleen Kennedy
Systems Engineer
Project Spartnik
Editor
"The Spartnik Countdown..."
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End Transmission -  Volume #1, Issue #3, February 1997
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