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Overview

Visit to UGA SmallSat Research Lab in order to understand the overlaps of two very similar missions (theirs and ours) as well as understanding how they run their lab, program management, student management and transfer of knowledge. How we can collaborate and share ideas.

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Minute

Present: Caleb Adams, Nick Hollis, David Cotten (http://geography.uga.edu/directory/people/david-l-cotten), Deepak Mishra (http://geography.uga.edu/directory/people/deepak-r-mishra), Mariusz

08:30-09:15

Programmatics & project management

How lab started and what it is made of

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  • See above for outcomes of discussion (most repeated during this chat)
  • Will set up meeting between Evelyn and Caleb (both PMs)

 

11:15-12:00

Technical Discussions

SPOC:

  • They had their CDR with NASA 2 weeks ago (exterior reviewers necessary) – given full GO
  • Coastal monitoring of phytoplankton, HABs, sediments, cyanobacteria (estimate CO2 as well)
  • Camera:
    • Built it themselves with major help from optics experts at NASA Goddard (GSFC)
    • They have 433-866 nm, using only 16 spectral bands
    • Hyperspectral -> works as multispectral (smart imager)
    • Similar to our HSI
    • Use reference of desert in Libya for in-orbit raw calibration
    • They don’t have SNR calculations
  • Use a RGB camera similar to FinderScope (on SeaHawk) to georeferenced/validate the hyperspectral data (in the same housing)
    • Use MicroCam (COTS)
  • Targets:
    • Mainly Georgia coast
    • Deepak has in-situ validation assets
      • Stations
      • UAVs
    • Also interested in Mediterranean
    • They will be in ISS orbit, so cannot reach Norway
    • We should coordinate what targets to look at together
  • Flight Software: KubeOS, MajorTom (https://www.kubos.com)
    • Does not interface with all subsystems (e.g. NanoAvionics or those that run on CSP client)
    • Interfaces with Pumpkin and some ClydeSpace COTS as well as GomSpace EPS
  • They do only Nadir-viewing imaging GSD=130 m. They can tilt using ADCS to look at different angles of same target and compare Nadir vs. tilted imaging.
  • Ground system:
    • Downlink: They downlink payload data on S-band and TM on UHF (I told them why not all in one packet thru S-band?)
    • We can use their UHF Ground station if we would like to (S-band TBD).
    • 9600 baud for uplink
    • 2 Megabaud for downlink
    • QPSK à 4 bits/assemble
    • Don’t have S-band yet
    • $40,000 for UHF hardware and equipment only (covered by internal funding)
    • (I don’t remember/forgot to ask them what Ground Stations they are using, I think they want to use NASA Goddard)
    • Comms. through AX25 protocol
    • Use GnuRadio currently to train with
    • Will use amateur bands in UHF
    • Frequency allocation took shorter than expected - since they have good contacts with NASA and US Air Force (smile)
    • HDR vs. SDR
      • Hardware-fixed bands for space
      • Both hardware-fixed and SDR capability on ground

...

Lunch with David Cotton and Deepak Mishra

 

1:00-2:30 PM

Tour at the SmallSat Research Lab

Lab configuration

  • They have couch, “fun area” (video games, coffee, fridge etc.), posters
  • 10-12 PCs
  • Clean Room (Class 1000, ISO6 standard)
    • They received this for free from Physics department
    • Some minor modifications
    • They do everything related to the cubesat here (except for FlatSat), incl. the optics!
  • EDS area
    • Tables for electronics
    • FlatSat configuration (all components except for ADCS and solar panels)
    • They follow Lean procedure for tools and equipment in the drawers, shelves
      • Label everything
      • Stickers on everything
      • Put back immediately after done
  • Ground station area (PC, servers, radios)
  • Brainstorm/discussion area with 2 white boards
  • They have a T-VAC chamber in the works (remodified pressure chamber)
  • They DON’T have Helmholtz coils and ADCS testbeds – need to do this

Pictures

Summary

  • Project is almost fully student-led and student-driven, voluntarily, passionate about what they do. Student ownership emphasized.
  • Faculty act as advisors. They interfere when critical (conflicts). Informal communications - sense of a team. 
  • Low acceptance rate. 200 applicants per semester. 8-12/200 accepted through 3 round-process interview.
  • Students (incl. interns) work throughout the year (no extensive/formal holidays) - always somebody in the lab
  • They will support us with both technical documentation and how to run the lab
    • They will provide Clean Room and ESD documents 
    • Mechanical + thermal analysis
    • Concept of operations document
  • We should coordinate overlapping mission requirements
    • Targets
    • Use of ground stations
    • Data processing
  • SPOC+MOCI essentially works in synergy as our HYPSO mission will
  • Help them with ADCS testing (HW)
    • Connect them with G-NAT at NASA Ames
    • Give them material from NUTS
  • Share ideas on:
    • Data processing chain
    • Super-resolution
    • ADCS
  • HYPSO and SPOC+MOCI should act as inter-calibration platforms
  • Evelyn should set up a meeting with Caleb regarding programmatics and project management

Collaboration domains

Follow-ups:

Caleb:

  • Template/example for exit reports
  • Presentation slides (overview of mission, CONOPS etc.)
  • Documentation on thermal+mechanical analysis.
  • Personnel management report
  • Clean Room + EDS documentation
  • Timeline chart for each mission?
  • High-level description for FlatSat arrangement?
  • Meet with Evelyn over Skype

...