Apprenticeship 2017-2018: Carrie Navio

The goal of this project is to continue software development and testing for the Imager (IMG) and the Command and Data Handling (CDH) subsystems. For the Alaska Research CubeSat 2 (ARC2), the primary mission is the Launch Environment and Data Logging (LEDL) subsystem which records the environment of the CubeSat as it launches. After insertion into orbit, LEDL switches into a support mode while the rest of the satellite operates their primary objectives.  During orbit, CDH’s primary objective is to ensure the health of the satellite. It gathers certain data from each subsystem every 10 seconds. If the data is not within the range of the system, CDH will note this as an error and keep track of them. As more errors accrue, CDH has the power to reset the subsystem or the entire satellite as a whole depending on what errors have been accrued.   The imaging subsystem (IMG) is also part of ARC2’s science mission. While LEDL answers the primary science mission, IMG helps the satellite reach the secondary science mission: taking photos of the polar ice caps. When the satellite is in orbit, IMG will have the ability to take photos at a designated time or when instructed by the Ground Station. Otherwise, IMG consumes low amounts of power and waits for internal and external commands.  This mission supports NASA’s interest in CubeSat’s. Currently, approximately half of all first-time CubeSat projects end in failure. ARC1 ended in failure and it was speculated to be due to a mechanical switch being stuck. Since CubeSat’s are a secondary payload, they go through different vibrations than what is given as the vibration parameters for testing (which are taken from the primary payload area). This new data collected from LEDL would help other CubeSat’s configure a better idea of the parameters they will be enduring during flight.