L0082S
Without any risk to IMAP, the StC augments IMAP science return, develops hands-on research experience for students, at least half of whom are women and/or members of underrepresented monitories (URMs), and contributes to diversifying space science. This is achieved through a collaborative hardware program involving three universities that results in students designing, building, testing, calibrating and delivering to NASA for launch at least one CubeSat with at least one student built instrument. The three universities are: University of New Hampshire, Howard University, and Sonoma State University. The baseline scenario for the IMAP StC is a small constellation of three identical CubeSats, one built at each institution. Post-launch through the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), the students participate in joint data analysis of measurements from IMAP and the CubeSat. The IMAP StC develops a strong recruitment and retention (R & R) program, that takes advantage of the expertise of the participating universities to bring a more diverse cohort of students to space-related STEM degrees. The StC incorporates a strong evaluation component to provide program evaluation on specific goals, in terms of diversity, student R & R, as well as engineering and scientific goals.
Sonoma State University
Project Grant 80NSSC20K1110
$1.1m 3/27/24 L0083S
Lead Mentor: The lead mentor and CoI at HU is Dr. Marcus Alfred. Each institution has one clear lead in charge of the CubeSat design, fabrication, calibration and testing. The lead mentor will participate in telecons/WebEx twice a month to discuss status, make proactive risk management decisions, respond to change requests, and sign off on key documents. Mentors: The mentors at HU are Drs. Marcus Alfred, Charles Kim, and Sonya Smith. The HU mentors will design for each upperclassmen and graduate student a framework of educational supports based on their interest and background. For these students, the mentors will set up online space science introduction workshops, and an area for synchronous and asynchronous peer-to-peer support. This online area also serves as a place for students who have left the StC (e.g., following graduation) to continue participating in ITC. In addition, online mentors host live videochats and provide career advice and support as needed. The mentors will also participate in face-to-face meetings held weekly by the local teams at HU. The mentors will participate in quarterly project review WebEx held with the entire team to discuss project-level status, schedule status, and top risks. Students: At HU, one graduate student is employed throughout the project. This will be a Master student in Physics or Engineering for 1-3 semesters at a time or a PhD student. We consider that each cohort of 4 undergraduate students work on the program for 16-18 months with overlap with the next cohort to ensure continuity in the project. Students carry the work through their senior year as part of their Senior Design project. The first cohort would be students graduating in Spring 2021. The students will participate in face-to-face meetings held weekly by the local teams at HU. The students will participate in quarterly project review WebEx held with the entire team to discuss project-level status, schedule status, and top risks. Students will: Carry out trade studies that address mechanical, electrical (power and C & DH), telemetry systems. Carry out a "typical" orbit analysis, including estimates of insolation, telemetry contact time, etc. Adapt the instruments to the payload. Complete mechanical work needed to adapt the instruments to the payload. Integrate each/all of the subsystems above, along with the instruments, to produce a final spacecraft design. Complete orbit analysis, if needed. Prepare for instrument and system PDR. Start instrument EM after instrument PDR. Acquire and/or fabricate spacecraft bus and subsystems as needed for EM and FM Electrical, Mechanical, and TM. Calibrate Instruments. Preparae for CSR and SIR. Complete final Integration of the CubeSat. Prepare for FRR. Ship spacecraft to NASA and prepare for ORR.
Howard University
Project Grant 80NSSC20K1110
$756.1k 2/18/22