RANGE successfully launched into orbit on Monday, 12/3, around 1:34 ET. Congratulations to all of the students who worked hard to make this happen, and thanks to Skybox and Planet for providing the launch opportunity! We’re still waiting for first contact with the satellites, but this should happen soon. The broadcast of the launch can be watched here:
Earlier this year, I was interviewed by College of Engineering dean Steve McLaughlin as part of his podcast series entitled “The Uncommon Engineer.” For those not familiar with the podcast series, I recommend you visit the main website and explore the many interesting discussions the Dean has had with professors and researchers from across campus. For my interview, we talked about a number of topics ranging from the small satellite program we have here at Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering to where space exploration is going in the future. Here’s the link in case you would like to listen:
https://podcast.coe.gatech.edu/podcasts/uncommon-engineer/it-came-outer-space-brian-gunter
On Sept 29, we successfully integrated RANGE into its deployer at Spaceflight’s facility in Auburn, WA. The hatch on the deployer won’t open again until it’s on orbit. This is a great milestone for the mission, and represents three years of hard work by a large team of students. Congratulations to everyone involved! Next up…launch!
A new project with Xenesis was formally approved on June 14 to miniaturize a space-to-ground laser communications terminal originally developed at JPL, and prepare the unit for an on-orbit demonstration on the ISS. The work will be done by GT-AE graduate students, led by Prof. Gunter, in collaboration with JPL engineers. More details on the project can be found here:
http://www.rh.gatech.edu/news/607280/laser-based-system-could-expand-space-ground-communication
A new paper in Nature titled “Mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2017” was released last week that represents an aggregate assessment of the state of the Antarctic ice sheet from over 80 international research. Dr. Gunter contributed one of the 24 mass balance data sets used in the study (one of seven from the altimetry experiment group). The results show that Antarctica is losing ice mass to the oceans at a rate of hundreds of gigatons per year (1 gigaton = a block of ice 1 x 1 x 1 km). Additional coverage of this new study has been posted on NPR, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and others.
On April 20, the TARGIT cubesat mission held it’s preliminary design review (PDR) with representatives from NASA. The team made a lot of progress since the concept review, and the feedback from the NASA engineers was very positive. Congratulations to all of the TARGIT teams members on a job well done! Next up is the critical design review!
Congratulations to Connor Lawson, ADCS lead for TARGIT, who recently won a NSF graduate research fellowship! This is a nationally competitive, three-year, full-stipend award that will allow Connor to conduct advanced research on spaceborne proximity operations and robotics. See the following for more details:
https://www.ece.gatech.edu/news/605018/7-ece-students-awarded-fellowships-nsf
Follow this link for the live stream interview of SSDL faculty/students regarding the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch, as well as updates on Georgia Tech’s own satellites.
Are you interested in gaining hands-on experience with satellites? The RANGE and TARGIT satellite teams are looking for a limited number of students to fill a variety of research positions, ranging from software development to electronics to mechanical systems. Attend the information session on January 9, 2018, 6pm, in Guggenheim 442 to learn more. All majors and class levels welcomed, especially those interested in electronics, optics/lasers, and programming. Students receive independent research credit for their efforts, with an expected time commitment of 8 hrs/wk (2 credit hours). Applications are now being accepted through a web form under “Contact” tab above (NOTE: only US citizens or permanent residents may participate).