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KSP Community CubeSat

K^2

By K^2
in Science & Spaceflight

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Ultimate Mission?  

104 members have voted

  1. 1. Ultimate Mission?

    • LEO Only - Keep it safe
      55
    • Sun-Earth L1
      5
    • Sun-Earth L2
      1
    • Venus Capture
      14
    • Mars Capture
      23
    • Phobos Mission
      99
    • Jupiter Moons Mission
      14
    • Saturn Moons Mission
      14
    • Interstellar Space
      53

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henryrasia

henryrasia

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hey, Sky_walker.

Since you know so much about space experiments would you mind suggesting one that's relevant and feasible for a first mission? This one is actually just something for us to get the know-how of these things, that's how well get experience in working with them and that's why we're not just suggesting an experiment for the ISS, we want to actually carry out a space mission. And about the PR stunt, SQUAD and KSP will have nothing to do with this. We're just using this knowledgeable and enthusiastic community (compared to others) to bring an international team of hobbyists together and do something amazing. If we'll ever succeed or be meaningful to space exploration, I don't know, but we're sure going to do our best.

I don't mind your tone as long as you're helpful, so are you going to help?

Edited by henryrasia
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NERVAfan

NERVAfan

Posted
Posted
You don't even have any idea of which aspect of moss you'd like to study,

Sure we do - growth in Moonlike (and/or Marslike) gravity as opposed to growth in Earth gravity.

not to mention anyone with education background in biology

I do.

And Mazon Del was talking to a professor who works with moss.

You rely on many very crucial components working in extreme environment with no experience working with any of them.

I really don't think this is all that complex as cubesats go, as given the short lifetime most of the 'life support' is passive.

EDIT:

I still have some qualms about the choice of moss specifically (we might want to use the most temperature-variation-tolerant small plant or alga we can find) but I think the general plan is good.

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Sky_walker

Sky_walker

Posted
Posted (edited)
Since you know so much about space experiments would you mind suggesting one that's relevant and feasible for a first mission?

Tell me, why exactly would I suggest you what you want to do in your experiment?

Think of it as a sort-of independent review. No reviewer will ever tell you what sort of project you're suppose to work on. That's not what reviews are for.

And about the PR stunt, SQUAD and KSP will have nothing to do with this.

You do realize that we are talking on a KSP forum, don't you?

This one is actually just something for us to get the know-how of these things

Good, I see an objective here. We can start with that. Now please, explain me how growing moss in a cubesat is going to help you with any of your future planned missions? Or if that's not the objective of this moss experiment - then what is?

We're just using this knowledgeable and enthusiastic community (compared to others)

I assure you that compared to other communities trying to send cubesat - you know very little. Last time I checked - you didn't have even a slightest idea on how to communicate with your satellite, there was only some idea that one guy might, or might not, build some DIY receiver that might, or might not, work.

And the fact that some of your team members got a high aversion to reading (yes Nicholander, I'm looking at you too) isn't helping you guys with anything.

Sky_walker, you seem to have forgotten that it will spin to generate artificial sub-gravity.

No, I didn't.

I do.

And Mazon Del was talking to a professor who works with moss.

Good news, I suppose. Glad to be proven wrong.

I really don't think this is all that complex as cubesats go, as given the short lifetime most of the 'life support' is passive.

Underestimating complexity of what you're doing isn't a particularly good prognosis for a project.

Sure we do - growth in Moonlike (and/or Marslike) gravity as opposed to growth in Earth gravity.

So... is it moonlike or marslike?

And similar experiments were already done on ISS (and I'm quite sure identical one was done as well), only with by far more in-depth analysis than anything you propose and a plants that actually can benefit astronauts:

Here: http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/04/Gravi-2

Edited by Sky_walker
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henryrasia

henryrasia

Posted
Posted
Tell me, why exactly would I suggest you what you want to do in your experiment?

You just went fetch 2 experiments that prove ours useless (Columbia moss and ISS Gravi 2 seedlings), so we just keep suggesting and you keep disproving them in trial-and-error until some day we get it? How about you just tell us an experiment that you would find interesting and novel and just be constructive? This is brainstorming, not even a mission plan is up for review, so yours is a little premature to say the least.

You want some objectives? Let's see a few that I thought went without saying:

  • Acquire the know-how to build a satellite that can:
  • Survive space launch conditions
  • Survive and be operational in LEO for a period of 3 weeks.
  • Create functional logistics for a team of international members to contribute to the creation and operation of the mission.
  • Be able to construct a functional satellite out of off-the-shelf electronics without professional assistance.
  • Create a global network (remember the international part?) that can track the satellite around it's orbit.
  • Let this network be mainly of amateur radio operators, again to acquire the know-how of orbital communication.
  • Acquire the know-how to operate a satellite in orbit with respect to instrumentation and the inevitable problems.
  • Be able to carry out a successful and fruitful mission to gain recognition to ease out the process of further missions.

Nicholander, NERVAfan, astropapi1, can you list any more?

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henryrasia

henryrasia

Posted
Posted (edited)

I did a very bad sketch:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Vyv-knZjtIIsBwNBIp6lS4198OBx4yRtoidhKEPYVVo/edit?usp=sharing

And noticed there's a lot of dead space. Also there's a lot of moving parts and liabilities for the mission, we should really simplify them. That is a cross section, but there's no 3D so it could very well be completely unrepresentative of the real thing. Finally, no measurements, so everything may be wrong entirely. This is just to kick into gear the actual design process.

EDIT: For example, I just made the experiments opossite to each other, symentrically, thus eliminating the need of a counterweight. We need these ideas flowing people!.

Edited by henryrasia
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dharak1

dharak1

Posted
Posted (edited)

That design wouldn't work. The varying distances from the center of the rotation near the edges of the petri dish would cause massive gravitational differences. We aren't using a rasp pi either, K^2 posted the micro controller earlier and it had a rad hard version but I can't quite recall the model number. The magnetorquers would have to occupy at lest 3 sides so they would have 3 dimensional control. The ones you showed would only control one axis and have double torque on that axis. The cubesat probably won't have any moving parts unless they are passive I.E. solar panel arrays pulled out by centrifugal force. The way I imagined it was a petri dish beside a window on one half of the cubesat with the side against our electronics. That way the torque would leave the axis of rotation perpendicular to the sun and let light in for all 45 minutes of sunlight, and the specimen would be able to have its "bottom" as though it was being pulled down by gravity. Something like the cylinder ship from Rendezvous with Rama with windows on one of the circular faces and the plants being grown on the rectangular faces. The electronics would take up the other circular face and that would fill the cubesat. Obviously much much smaller but a similar concept.

Edit: That sounded really harsh. I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I lust think the drawings need more improvements and it's probably too early for them at this point. We don't know our components or how much space they'll take up.

Edited by dharak1
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henryrasia

henryrasia

Posted
Posted

Dharak1, that's why I created the google doc, so we can get everything discussed in the last 139 pages in one place. Do you remember in what page they said those things? Also, I found a company that sells cubesat-specific solar panels, some with magnetorquers embedded.

Here's the doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jR2B_M67cITTBtV_PDMoioVQp3bnCTR85ecQeVKmpWI/edit?usp=sharing

If you'd like to be able to have full edit powers PM me.

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henryrasia

henryrasia

Posted
Posted

Well, I just added a lot of stuff in the doc, what do you guys think?

And I found more info on cameras, written there under "camera", sorry if it looks messy. Remember people, engineering is done by numbers, if you don't know the numbers, that's no excuse to not start an analysis, estimate, and if in emergency, guess, but ANALYSE WITH NUMBERS.

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MrZayas1

MrZayas1

Posted
Posted

Probably would not be able to build the cubesat in time but a new thread just popped up on the forums about a NASA launch in 2017 on the SLS for a solar sail probe to the moon to map for water near the poles of the moon. Maybe we could hitch a ride?? I mean, I am sure that a whole SLS launch will have some space left over, but since we aren't just dropping it into an orbit we will probably need an engine to land the probe on the moon to test the moss for gravitational effects. If I understand our goals correctly with this. Other than that maybe one of the future missions to mars we can hitch a ride onto also if we want to build the same cubesat for a Mars mission. Just a thought though.

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henryrasia

henryrasia

Posted
Posted

MrZayas, we're just doing a simulated moon/mars gravity in LEO because an actual moon mission would be excessive for our scale. However, since 2017 is somewhat far off, we might take that opportunity for a moon mission. I did link a $3M NASA prize for an independent cubesat missio to the moon. That's quite an incentive. But for that, I'm afraid, we'd need to speed up this first missio as it's not seeming to be becoming real anytime soon...

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LvL

LvL

Posted
Posted

Hey guys,

I remember ages ago we were talking about how most of us are from different parts of the world, and that we need people in different areas to keep the cubesat connected. So should we put people who are willing to help out in the google doc?

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henryrasia

henryrasia

Posted
Posted

We should definitely put anyone willing to help in the doc, but they need to be active and engaged, otherwise it~s just a waste of everything. I mean, this thread should have 2 pages of postings per day for a project like this! Right now we're getting 4 posts a day (give or take), and usually from the same people.

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