Outreach
April 7-8, 2000
HEDS-UP presentation at regional student conference for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics on April 7-8 at Penn State.
April 8, 2000
HEDS-UP presentation booth. Space Day event at Penn State organized by the PA Space GrantConsortium (PSGC) for all Penn State groups who are involved in space-related research and education to exhibit information about their programs at this public event. Saturday, April 8, 2000, from ~11:00am to 2:00pm in the Alumni Hall of the HUB/Robeson Center.
April 26, 2000
HEDS-UP presentation at Penn State forum to discuss the formation of Space Colonization Institute at Penn State.
April 29, 2000:
HEDS-UP MARS ROBOTICS event at Penn State. Time and place: Saturday, April 29, 2000 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the 108 Wartik Lab. During the event, students will outline future robotic Mars missions to help the Human Exploration and Development of Mars.
August 10-13, 2000
Presentation at the INTERNATIONAL MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION. The Third International Mars Society Convention, August 10-13, 2000 at Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, Canada.
OUR TEAM
Nikki Thornton, David Borowski, Joseph Yagloski, Michael Schrader Joe Fledderman, Mike Jordan, Gregg O'Marr, Jean Hsu, Ben Weber, Chad Lauffer, Alysha Holmes, Chris Carlins, Christian Feisel, Shubh Krishna, Michael W. Graham, Kevin Sloan, Brian Sosnowchik, Taite Merriman
Our Sponsors and supporters
NASA
Penn State Schreyer Honors College
Penn State Space Grant Consortium
Penn State Department of Electrical Engineering
Penn State Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
Applied Research Laboratory
The Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
The Mars Society
Brochure created by Michael Schrader.
HEDS – UP
Student Design Competition
Class: EE497D and ME497C
Human Exploration and
Development of Space
Team Instructor:
Dr. Wojciech Klimkiewicz
Student Team Leader:
Alysha Holmes
Please visit our web page at:
What is HEDS-UP?
HEDS-UP is a program of the Lunar and Planetary Institute and the Texas Space Grant Consortium to link the university community with the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS). Going into its third year, HEDS-UP is conducting a program in which university engineering design projects were brought to NASA for review and feedback in the HEDS-UP Mars Forum. Thirteen universities, including undergraduate and graduate teams, participated during the 1998-1999 academic year. HEDS-UP also sponsored the NASA Means Business Program in 1998-1999. Six university teams were selected to participate in this program, which was aimed at the design of business plans for the human exploration of space.
Penn State Primary Mission
The Penn State HEDS-UP team has decided to focus on adaptive robotics for Mars human exploration and the development of Space. To be more specific, we are conceptualizing a robotic mission to the red planet. Our primary mission involves the study of sedimentary layers near the edge of the Valles Marineris like Condor Chasma and Gangis Chasma to uncover the history and past life (if any) on Mars. This objective will be accomplished using three robotic components:
Lander- Rover
- Cliffhanger
The cliffhanger is a small robot carrying camera, soil sampler, and several sensors to study the face of Martian cliffs. Tethered to the larger rover, the cliffhanger will literally hang over the edge of a cliff to conduct its experiments.
The rover will be used to carry the cliffhanger from the landing site to the edge of the cliff – and will also conduct its own experiments along the way.
The lander will be used to provide mission power and carry the rover and cliffhanger safely to the Martian surface. It will also secure a long-term meteorological and climate observatory on Mars after the primary mission is completed.
Secondary Mission
Our mission’s secondary objective is to establish a long-term observatory on Mars. This mission will utilize the lander, which will include several scientific instruments necessary for documenting day-to-day weather conditions over a long period of time. One of the major goals of the long-term observatory will be to document conditions just before dust storms. This information could prove to be useful in the prediction of Martian dust storms for future missions.
We are also planning to perform a few acoustic and seismic experiments using Lander, Rover and additional sensors.