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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 


           Micro-satellite Design Laboratory





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                  April 11, 1997 


                    9:00 a.m. PST


                 Volume #1, Issue #4





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               Announcements In Brief


           -------------------------------





* ADAC Group wins AIAA Student Conference Competition!


* Solar string manufacturing is near completion 


* Paul Boetius and Mike McCormick/Lockheed Martin are named 


  Sponsors of the Month


* Search for Launch Vehicle Begins


* Sean Medina is 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


_____________________________________________________





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


         Brian and Carlos Winners of Regional


           AIAA Undergraduate Paper Contest





Brian Menges and Carlos Guadiamos, representing Spartnik's ADAC


team, placed first in the 1997 Region VI AIAA Student Conference 


in Seattle, Washington, presenting a paper entitled, "Dynamic 


Modeling of Micro-Satellite Spartnik's Attitude.  They will be


representing Spartnik and San Jose State again in the national


AIAA competition to be held in January at Reno, Nevada.





Congratulations Brian and Carlos! Good luck in the national


competition!





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





Spartnik has a new addition to the software team, Keiko Endo,


who brings great enthusiasm and dedication to the project.





Welcome to the group Keiko!!





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





@ ATTITUDE DETERMINATION AND CONTROL 


   The program to simulate Spartnik's attitude has been 


   completed. A series of simulations have been run to 


   investigate the gyroscopic effect and the current control 


   system.  These simulations have provided insight into how best 


   to improve the control system.  Additional magnets will be 


   added to increase the magnetic dipole of Spartnik and measures 


   will be taken to reduce the spin rate.  Additional 


   simulations will be performed to investigate different 


   altitudes and inclinations and their effect on the control 


   system.  Construction of the nutation damper for the flight 


   vehicle will begin soon.  








@ STRUCTURES


   The structures team has exceeded expectations once again. With


   a lot of hard work, and some dedication added in, the 


   structures team has managed to get Spartnik to the point where


   it is starting to be assembled. This wasn't an easy task, 


   since there were several modifications to make throughout the


   structure. Spartnik may look the same from the outside, but 


   it's a whole new creation from within. We have added mass 


   enhancers to boost the moments of inertia for proper spin, 


   special wiring harness mounts for easy satellite integration 


   and testing, a new and improved camera box, a more suitable


   computer/communications box, and much more. It's a culmination


   of innovative thinking and an excellent work ethic. Depending


   on subsystem progress, Spartnik could be fully assembled 


   by summer. 








@ PAYLOAD


   The Payload Subsystem is close to reaching several milestones.


   The foam for the camera box which will support the Kodak 


   Digital Camera has been chosen to be Rohacell 


   Polymethacrylimide foam.  The assembly procedures for the 


   camera box, including the camera, foam, copper braid, and 


   MMID, IR Sensor and temperature sensor wiring, have been 


   completed and are in the process of being documented.  An 


   elliptical flat mirror and two variable focal length lenses 


   have been purchased.  These soon will be tested to 


   determine which has the best performance with our modified 


   camera.  This decision will allow us to finalize the 


   lens-periscope design.  








@ POWER


   Since the last update the Power Subsystem team has made some 


   very good progress.  The batteries are being tested by Jim


   Waller at Lockheed Martin to determine the Voltage-Temperature


   curves that will be integrated into the charge control 


   circuitry.  The solar string construction is near completion 


   by Satellite Power Corporation. Also, the team has decided to 


   powder coat the battery boxes to attempt to thermally separate


   them from the possibly cold Spartnik environment.  This was


   completed by Advanced Industrial Coatings.  Some of the 


   remaining issues include the micro-switches and the dead-cycle


   configuration switching.  These issues will be investigated 


   over the next few months.








@ THERMAL


   Presently, the Thermal Subsystem is working on an analysis of 


   the thermal characteristics of Spartnik using a commercial 


   software package called SINDA. Preliminary runs have been 


   completed using very rough data and different cases the 


   micro-satellite will be facing.  A more complex SINDA model


   is being created now.  Other tasks to be completed in the


   next few weeks include painting the shell of Spartnik and


   calibrating the thermal couples.


  





@ LAUNCH VEHICLE AND ORBIT


   Orbit simulations, using POHOP, have been completed at 


   inclinations of 30, 60, 75, and 90 degrees with altitudes of 


   300, 500, 700, and 900 km at each inclination.  The times of


   passes over San Jose State are now being determined for all


   of the above mentioned orbits.  





   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 SOFTWARE


   John Robison is currently working on the kernel of the OS for 


   the 80C188EC.  He is researching the CPU and organizing the 


   specifications for the time-sharing and process management 


   that will be necessary.  He is also keeping up with the 


   ground station coding as new information comes in.  John 


   Bargamian is currently finishing up is code for the RAMDISK 


   and is beginning to research the manual for the HDLC chip.  


   John will soon be deriving a functional spec for the HDLC 


   drivers.  Tim Kimmet is currently finishing up the code for 


   the first half of the PACSAT layer of communication, which 


   consists only of the downlink portion.  Uplink is now getting 


   considered, but is not planned on being implemented until the 


   downlink has been tested and considered functioning properly. 


   Keiko Endo is currently becoming more familiar with AX.25 and 


   is working with Danilo Unite on finishing up what is left of 


   the AX.25 programming.  She has made tremendous progress in 


   the understanding of the AX.25 Packet Communications Protocol.


   Jeff Nokes is still working on the overall operational 


   specifications, and is looking into the camera development 


   module that will be required to code the camera's serial 


   communications.  Industry mentor Ron Fishler has been instrumental 


   in the software progress by his consistent help and guidance.








@ COMPUTER HARDWARE:


   Dr. Petersen has implemented many changes to the wire-wrapped 


   version of the On Board Computer (OBC).  The functionality of 


   the board is still the same, but the layout has changed to 


   more closely model that of the four boards that will comprise 


   the actual OBC.  








@ GROUND STATION:


   Norm Kow has recently picked two currently existing 


   micro-satellites to try and contact with our new ground 


   station.  These micro-sats are similar in design to ours.  


   Jeff Nokes is going to generate some ephemeris for the two 


   micro-satellites to test the new ground station's 


   functionality. 





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





          Paul Boetius and Mike McCormick


                at Lockheed Martin


                  Sunnyvale, CA





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





Paul Boetius and Mike McCormick have been instrumental in


helping team Spartnik get the outer shell of the flight model


prepared for solar array application.  They applied the FM-73


adhesive necessary to adhere the solar arrays to Spartnik's shell.


Paul and Mike have also been very helpful and timely with all of our


questions and concerns regarding our micro-satellite project.


They and the Lockheed Martin Corporation have been very generous


in donating their time and supplies.





                Thanks Paul and Mike!


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





                      Sean Medina





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





Sean Medina has been helping Tim Tapia (Thermal Subsystem) use 


the SINDA analysis program to look at Spartnik's thermal 


characteristics, and has donated many work-hours during the past 


weeks. In addition to helping Tim understand and use the program, 


he has helped Tim create a small sample model as well as a 


50-node model of Spartnik.  Sean has also helped Tim determine


the correct black paint and FOSR coverage to use on the Spartnik


structure.





Thank you Sean Medina!!  





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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 (or removed from) the 


distribution list or have questions or comments about the project 


or newsletter, send the information to: 


             colleen@jupiter.engr.sjsu.edu





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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 


and Aerospace Engineering Department faculty would like to thank 


the following:





Lockheed Martin Corp.


Space Systems/Loral


Applied Solar Energy Corp.


United Technologies Corp. - Chemical Systems Division


Optical Coating Laboratory Inc.


Shur-Lok Corporation


Satellite Power Corp.


Teledyne Corp.


Kodak


Logitech


Eagle Picher


Phillips Semiconductor


Teklam


Kajon Inc.


Advanced Industrial Coatings


Stanford University - SSDL





    ........for their contributions...Thank you.


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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:





This year's Spartnik class has achieved a great deal.  Many


design changes dealing with various subsystems were created
 

and implemented, the flight model is almost completely 


manufactured, the flight model components are beginning to be


integrated, the software group is jumping over high hurdles, etc.


It is a privilege to work with my fellow classmates and to be 


a part of this exciting time of flight model manufacturing and 


integration.  We would not be at this stage, however, if it had


not been for the help and guidance of Spartnik alums.  I would 


like to take this opportunity to thank the alums for their time
 

and guidance throughout this project.  Hopefully, we will 


be able to continue the tradition.





Thank you, 


Colleen Kennedy


Systems Engineer


Project Spartnik


Editor 


"The Spartnik Countdown..."


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End Transmission -  Volume #1, Issue #4, April 1997


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