NASA to launch WU-monitored satellite

Rajas Pargaonkar

On Monday, September 17, NASA has scheduled the launch of Sapphire satellite as a part of the Department of Defense Space Test Program. After its launch from Kodiak, Alaska, students from the Naval Academy and Washington University will monitor its flight and check its components.
WU students will work with Sapphire in three ways, according to Michael Swartwout, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering who is chiefly supervising the project. Students will work on satellite tracking; payload processing, or the generation and retrieval of data from the satellite’s instruments; and health management, ensuring the satellite is functioning properly and will continue to do so during its 18-month flight.
Students will also use WU’s amateur radio ground station to contact the spacecraft. A remote-controlled station at Stanford Univeristy will assist with this process. Both NASA and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be working closely with WU and Naval Academy students.
Despite its sophisticated design and ambitious mission, the spacecraft itself is a mere seventeen inches across and one foot tall. In fact, the 50-pound construct was sitting in Swartwout’s office up until a few days ago, when it was sent to the Alaska launch site.
Sapphire’s small size and weight allow it to piggyback the primary satellite NASA is launching. After the primary satellite dislodges from the rocket, the secondary payload – the Sapphire and two other small satellites – will accompany it into space.
After it reaches approximately five hundred miles above the earth, students will monitor the spacecraft for some eighteen months. Though it will remain in space for decades, Swartwout projects that after eighteen months radiation from the sun will burn out the processor.
Swartwout said the primary purpose of the satellite is to train students. In addition to giving students experience building and testing an actual spacecraft, they will also monitor and control it.
NASA and the Department of Defense both see the project as being an important way to train individuals to maintain satellites in orbit.
The spacecraft will also serve as a useful tool for scientists testing several new features that may be implemented in future satellites should they prove successful.
One trial feature is a new infrared sensor called the edge detector. The detector differentiates between cold space and hot earth and also provides a signal if the spacecraft is spinning. The detector itself is a tiny component etched onto a silicon wafer only a few inches across and weighing less than a pound. Most infrared detectors require elaborate cooling systems, while the edge detector operates at room temperature and can be mass-produced at a lower cost, according to Swartwout. If successful, the introduction of smaller and cheaper infrared detectors is a viable option for future spacecraft.
A black and white digital camera, taken from a model made available to consumers in 1994, accompanies the detector as a learning tool for students. Though state-of-the-art for consumers at the time, the now-obsolete camera has a resolution of only one kilometer when photographing earth features, significantly lower than some satellites with resolutions of up to a few meters. However, Swartwout plans to use the camera educationally with geography programs at schools, as large landmasses and bodies of water should be easily visible.
A final objective of the project lies in future developments of more effective robots, a main component of Swartwout’s research at WU. Swartwout added software to the satellite that will enable it to monitor its own functionality and allow the satellite to turn off unnecessary components as needed. Most satellites lack the ability to monitor themselves in this manner; instead engineers and scientists regulate the spacecraft around the clock.
“We can save time and money by only communicating with the spacecraft when we need to,” said Swartwout. Relatively inexpensive components such as a personal computer, a sound card, and a fixed antenna will allow the team to receive signals and send them back to mission control.

From conception to launch

Originally built at Stanford, the finished satellite echoes years of work by Swartwout. As a student, he worked with Professor Bob Twigg of Stanford in designing Sapphire.
Last summer, Twigg called Swartwout notifying him that he had made a deal with the Naval Academy to allow Sapphire to be sent up as a part of a Department of Defense payload going up at the same time. Swartwout said Twigg asked him to carry out the final steps prior to launch.
The project then made its way to WU, and Swartwout served as the project’s main organizer.
Due to the recent events, Swartwout expected the launch date of the satellite to be pushed back because of the limitations on air travel and the military’s focusing on more pressing concerns. He hopes the satellite will launch within a few weeks of the original date.

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