BalloonSat Near-Space Mission
Colorado Space Grant Consortium
Team Proposal for The Wright Stuff
Team Seven
Written by:
Colton Hall
Brendan Lee
David Thomas
Zak Collins
Eli Nelson
Devin Bazata
September 16, 2011
Mission Overview
Our BalloonSat has two main missions which both involve bacteria. The first mission is to send up petri dishes on which we have grown bacteria for two to three days and to control what they are exposed to in space to observe how they are affected. There are three main factors that we will control; they are temperature, UV and other cosmic radiation, and extremely low pressure. We know that UV light will kill bacteria at high enough intensities but we do not know if there is enough UV light in space to kill them. We also know that low temperatures will slow the rate at which the bacteria grow but we do not think that it will kill them. We do not know how the bacteria will react to the low pressure. There will be a petri dish for each of these factors that is protected from all the other factors, as well as a petri dish that is protected from all the factors and another one that is exposed to all of them. We will also have a petri dish on the ground to act as a control. The way we will protect the bacteria from each of the factors are as follows.
Temperature: We will place the petri dish on a heater to keep the bacteria warm.
UV: We will paint the petri dish black to block out the UV rays.
Extremely low pressure/vacuum: We will seal the petri dish to make it air tight and maintain normal pressure.
The reason we are isolating each factor is so that we can tell how each factor is affecting the bacteria. Another thing that could possibly kill the bacteria but we cannot control is high acceleration, so if even the bacteria that are protected from everything but still die then the high acceleration is the cause. The purpose of this part of our mission is to see how well life can survive in the different aspects of space.
Our second mission is to collect bacteria that lives in the stratosphere. Recently scientists in India discovered three new types of bacteria in the stratosphere but there is still not a lot known about the bacteria that live there. We will be attempting to discover if bacteria live in the tropopause. We will expose a petri dish to the atmosphere after we reach the tropopause. After that we will just keep the petri dish sealed so it is not contaminated by the bacteria at lower elevations. We should not need to protect the bacteria from UV or the low pressure since they already live in those conditions.
References:
Requirements
Our team will meet the requirements of this RFP by including all parts required for it. We will work diligently, completing deadlines on time, doing our individual parts and contributing equally to the project, and ultimately try hard to make this whole effort a success.
Materials and Budget
Our Budget will be overseen by Colton Hall, who will be in charge of collecting and organizing the purchases of the materials needed for our Balloon Satellite. Our team will keep any invoices from purchases for our satellite, which will be kept track of and compared to the overall budget to make sure we stay within our budget. In order to stay on budget Colton will keep a detailed list of all objects needed and will make sure nothing goes over the budget. Any requests for extra items will have to be told to Colton who will see whether it can be done within the budget. If they can be ordered Colton will order them himself to make sure there are no duplicates of items ordered.
Item / Price / Obtain fromHOBO H08-004-02 / provided / provided by COSGC
active heater system / provided / provided by COSGC
Canon SD780 IS / provided / provided by COSGC
3 sheets of foam core / provided / provided by COSGC
Parallax Standard Servo
(P/N 900-00005) / $14.29 / hobbyengineering.com
20 servo mounting screws / $3.73 / rcslot.com
10 feet of Velcro / provided / provided by COSGC
1 square foot sheet of plywood / $2.50 / homedepot.com
square plastic tube / $9.65 / usplastic.com
hollow circular plastic tube / $15.54 / usplastic.com
wire / provided / provided by COSGC
3 batteries (9v) / provided / provided by COSGC
8 Extra batteries (9v) / $23.98 / amazon.com
4 switches / $12.00 / Newark.com
20 petri dishes / $5.00 / scientificsonline.com
O-ring / $5.00 / Sears
Basic Stamp / provided / provided by COSGC
Aluminum foil / $10.00 / Wal-Mart
Total / $101.69
Design
How the Satellite Will be Built:
The satellite will be constructed out of foam core, with Velcro holding the sheets together and aluminum foil wrapping providing insulation. It will be the shape of a rectangular prism, with the side walls protruding above the height of the top panel to provide a protective “railing” for experiments placed on top of the satellite. These external experiments will include a bacteria-filled petri dish exposed to the external environment, and another empty petri dish attached to a servo. At the command of the BASIC Stamp, the servo deployment arm will swing up to expose the petri dish to the environment to collect bacteria. The arm will then swing down to seal the petri dish against a rubber seal on the top of the satellite. This arm will consist of a plywood board and plastic connector rod attached to a Parallax Standard Servo. Servo screws will hold the device in place.
The inside of the satellite will contain a BASIC Stamp, attached to two 9-volt batteries and an external switch that will control the motion of the servo. Also, an internal heater, connected to three 9-volt batteries via another switch, will provide heating for the interior of the satellite. This will warm the two petri dishes inside the satellite. All petri dishes will be attached to the satellite via Velcro. One dish will be painted black to shield it from ultraviolet radiation.
Another switch will activate the HOBO probe, which will measure both internal and external temperature as well as external humidity. Similarly, a different switch will connect the camera and its data storage device to two 9-volt batteries. Also, a second heater will be positioned near the top of the interior to release thermal energy upward to heat the bacteria-filled petri dish. Lastly, a hollow, plastic tube will run vertically through the center of the tube with washers on either end, and the nylon cord connecting to the balloon will run through this tube.
Functional Diagram
Test Plan
A series of tests will be performed on the BalloonSat to test its performance and to ensure it will not fail in a space environment. These include drop tests, whip tests, freeze tests, staircase tests, and a vacuum test (performed in the vacuum chamber in the ITLL). Drop tests will consist of dropping the BalloonSat from a raised platform such as the second story bridge between the DLC and the ITLL. The purpose of this test is to investigate the durability of the satellite as it drops back down to Earth. The satellite will tumble many times after that initial landing impact, and the its durability under this situation will need to be measured. The staircase test will measure this, and will be performed by tumbling the satellite down a flight of stairs. Whip tests will consist of threading a string through the box and twirling it around in a circular motion by hand. This will show how well the opening for the cord attaching the satellite to the balloon will fare under the forces of wind, upward acceleration at launch, and downward acceleration at burst. Freeze tests will be administered to the vital components and subsystems of the satellite to show how well they will work in a cold environment. The subsystems will be immersed in dry ice to simulate this. Of particular interest is the performance of the servo motors and the camera in this environment. Condensation will be a problem for the camera lens, so that will be monitored. The servo motors may cease to perform or perform less smoothly in the cold, so its performance will be monitored as well. Finally, the same components will be put in a vacuum to test their performance in a pressureless environment. The performance of the camera and the servos will be monitored as with the freeze test, but the durability of the petri dishes used to hold the bacteria will be the primary interest.
Team Safety
The safety of each team member is very important, and precautions will be taken to ensure harm does not happen upon anyone. For example, multiple team members will be present for every building and testing session. If one person gets injured, then another team member can step in to help. Safety glasses will be worn at all times to prevent debris from flying into eyes during building and testing. During the drop and staircase tests, the satellite will impact the ground with considerable force and parts may break and fly off. To ensure safety from these projectiles, each team member will come no closer than 5 meters from the landing area at the time of landing. The dry ice used for the freeze tests is very cold and can freeze skin, so a proper cooler will be used and proper gloves will be worn when handling it. Finally, each team member will use proper judgement and common sense to stay out of harm’s way, and each team member will look out for each other.
Data Retrieval
After the recovery of our Balloon Satellite and its petri dishes, we will give the bacteria two days to incubate. After comparing the dishes to their levels of growth from before the launch, we will be able to tell if they were alive or not. If they did not grow any more after the launch, then they will be dead, if they continue to grow then they will have survived. To test our collected bacteria, we will incubate them for two days and see if there are any growths on our dishes.
Schedule
09/15: Team Meeting (7:00 PM)
09/16: Proposal Due
09/16: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Goal: Work on Conceptual Design)
09/17: Work on Conceptual Design Independently
09/20: Conceptual Design Due at 7:00 AM
09/24: Team Meeting (11:00 AM)
09/27: Hardware Ordering (Time by Appointment)
09/28: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Possible Building)
10/01: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Building)
10/04: Design Document Rev. A/B Due at 7:00 AM
10/04: Critical Design Presentation Due at 7:00 AM
10/05: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Building)
10/08: Team Meeting (11:00 AM) (All tests except Freeze and Vacuum Test) (Building)
10/12: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Building)
10/15: Team Meeting (11:00 AM) (Freeze Test) (Building)
10/18: Mid Semester Team Evaluation Due at 9:30 AM
10/19: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Vacuum Test and Repeat All Other Tests excepting Freeze Test)
10/23: Team Meeting (11:00 AM and 7:00 PM) (Redo any tests that need it) (Final Building)
10/25: Pre-launch Inspection/Bring all hardware to class
10/26: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Final Touch-ups)
10/27: In-class Mission Simulation Tests
10/29: Team Meeting (11:00 AM) (Final Touch-ups) (Work on LLR and DD)
11/01: LLR Presentations Due at 7:00 AM
11/01: Design Document Rev. C Due at 7:00 AM
11/02: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Final Touch-ups)
11/04: Final Balloon SAT Weigh-in and Turn In (Time by appointment)
11/04: DLC 270A and LRR Cards Due by 2:00 PM
11/05: LAUNCH DAY (4:45 AM - 4:00 PM)
11/05: Team Meeting (Upon Return) (Store Data from Launch)
11/08: Bring Raw Flight Data to Class
11/09: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Collect Data)
11/13: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Collect Data)
11/16: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Data/Prepare for Final Presentation)
11/17: HW 07 Due at 4:00 PM
11/27: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Prepare for Final Presentation)
11/29: Final Presentations Due at 7:00 AM/All Data Due in class
11/29: Final Presentation
11/30: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Finish Video and Design Document Rev. D)
12/03: ITLL Design Expo (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM)
12/03: Design Document Rev. D/Team Videos Due at Judging
12/06: Hardware Turn-in
12/08: HW 08 Due
12/14: Final Exam (4:30 PM- 7:00 PM)
Team Information
Job Descriptions:
Name / Jobs / DescriptionBrendan Lee / Programmer, Camera Programmer / Write code, Handle all programming, Handle camera functions
Colton Hall / Safety Officer, Budget Manager, Schedule Management, Assistant Technician / Oversee safety, Keep log of all expenditures, Order materials, Keep inventory, Keep people on schedule, Help with building.
Eli Nelson / Team Leader, Technical Overview / Lead team, Main manufacturer of balloon SAT,
David Thomas / Head Researcher, Assistant Programmer / Handle bacteria, Make sure biological area of experiment works, helps with code
Zak Collins / Researcher, Assistant Technician / Helps head researcher, helps build balloon SAT
Devin Bazata / Assistant Programmer, Technician / Helps assemble balloon SAT and helps write code where needed
Contact Information:
Name / Phone Number / Email / AddressDevin Bazata / 303-868-2605 / / 9053 Bracket Hall
Zak Collins / 720-452-5494 / / 223 Williams Village North
Colton Hall / 303-883-0586 / / 477 Stearns East
Brendan Lee / 303-552-8978 / / E212 Andrews Hall
Eli Nelson / 701-238-7502 /
David Thomas / 303-919-3130 / / N121 Andrews Hall
Meet the Team:
Brendan Lee: Brendan is from Boulder, Colorado. He did the International Baccalaureate (IB) program in high school. He has held an internship in the mechanical engineering department of CU under Dr. H. Jerry Qi creating and testing Shape Memory Polymers. He has a fascination with structures and all of the concepts and ideas involved in building a spacecraft. He is enthusiastic about everything related to space (especially the design and engineering put into spacecraft) and is motivated and willing to devote everything necessary to The Wright Stuff team.
Zak Collins: Zak is from Superior, Colorado and went to Monarch High School. He likes pretty much every type of science and took AP Bio, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, and AP Calculus in high school. He played football and ultimate frisbee in high school and plans on playing a lot of volleyball in college. He likes watching football and riding his motorcycle. His interest in space comes from watching Star Wars, Star Trek and other space shows and movies. He is majoring in aerospace and he is primarily interested in aerodynamics and propulsion.
Devin Bazata: Devin is from Thornton, Colorado. He has always been into science and took AP Physics in High School. He also likes math and took calculus 2 in high school. He has had a fascination with space since a young age, when he launched his first model rocket. Since then he has pursued his dream of becoming an Aerospace Engineer. At the University of Colorado Devin is working to get an Aerospace Engineering Degree so that he can fulfill his dream of designing the next generation of spacecraft.
Colton Hall: Colton is from Lakewood, CO and attended D’Evelyn Jr. Sr. High School. He was one of the top people in the math program and often went to math/engineering competitions with teams across the state. He took AP BC Calc and AP Physics. Colton was a captain on the football and track team during highschool and always tries to involve himself in as many activities as possible. At CU Boulder, he hopes to obtain an aerospace engineering degree while taking classes in business. Someday he hopes to own his own aerospace company and focus on the business side of the company.
Eli Nelson: Eli is from Fargo, North Dakota, which is nothing like the movie, because it was actually filmed in Northern Minnesota, and attended Fargo North High School. His favorite subjects were calculus and physics, thus sparking his interest in aerospace engineering. He has been interested in the design of aircraft and spacecraft and is very interested in the progression of the aerospace industry in coming years. He swam and participated in track in high school, swimming long distance and doing everything but running in track. He enjoys anything outdoors, such as climbing, hiking and mountain biking. He likes both cats and dogs, but doesn’t like birds or fish. He would like to work on the aerodynamics of vehicles with his aerospace engineering degree.
David Thomas: David is from Englewood, Colorado and attended Cherry Creek High School. He has always been interested in mathematics, science, and space, so he chose to pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. David hopes to someday work for NASA, ideally as an astronaut. His other interests include playing the clarinet and reading. He is also a devoted Christian.
1 The Wright Stuff