MSU students to build another satellite

Students at Montana State University-Bozeman have built a satellite that will be launched from the former Soviet Union.

They’ve sent balloons into the earth’s upper atmosphere between Big Timber and Billings.

Now, they’re about to start working on a new satellite for the U.S. Air Force.

By Evelyn Boswell, MSU Research Office

MSU was one of 12 universities in the nation to receive a two-year grant through the University Nanosatellite Program, said Dave Klumpar, director of MSU’s Space Science and Engineering Laboratory (SSEL) http://www.physics.montana.edu/borealis/ . The grant amounts to $50,000 each year. The program is administered by the Air Force’s Office of Scientific Research.

"It is great to have external funding to do the project, but the real reward is what it means to the students – the ability to take what they learn in the classroom and move it into real-world experience," Klumpar commented.

The grant will allow MSU to assemble a team of students – mostly undergraduates – from a variety of disciplines to design and build a satellite the size of a one-pound loaf of Wonder Bread, Klumpar continued. Called a nanosatellite, the satellite will use what students learned when they built a tiny satellite known as MEROPE or the Montana EaRth-Orbiting Pico Explorer. That satellite – a cube measuring about four inches per side – is expected to be launched in the fall from the country of Kazakhstan.

"Because we had been working on our own very small satellite, we felt this was a perfect opportunity for us to throw our hat into the ring and see if we could come up with some ideas of interest to the Air Force," Klumpar said of the nanosatellite.

The new satellite will weigh about eight pounds and be 2 1/2 times larger than MEROPE. If the Air Force likes it, it will be launched from the United States and orbit up to 400 kilometers above the earth to measure radiation associated with the Van Allen belts.

"The Van Allen radiation belts are pretty much farther out than 400 kilometers, but some radiation escapes and ends up impacting the upper atmosphere of the earth," Klumpar explained.

Work on the nanosatellite will begin this spring. Doctoral students who are helping Klumpar manage the project said the project may involve students in science and engineering, as well as business, art and English. Interest is more important than grade point average.

"We look for interested students," said Mike Obland, a doctoral student from Colstrip. "That’s primarily what we care about."

The University Nanosatellite Program is designed to develop engineers and scientists for the aerospace industry, Klumpar said. It’s also meant to develop technology and space applications that might interest the Air Force and NASA.

"It’s really exciting," said Brian Larsen, a doctoral student from Oregon who will serve as student project manager for the nanosatellite.

For him, the nanosatellite will bridge the gap between physics and engineering. For the undergraduate students, it will offer practical experience. "It’s a heck of a resume line," Larsen commented.

Obland said the nanosatellite will also give undergraduate students a trial period to see if they want to pursue a degree or career in aerospace.

Funding for the nanosatellite comes mainly from the Air Force, but the project is a partnership between the Air Force and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Klumpar said. The Montana Space Grant Consortium http://www.montana.edu/msgc/ is a major supporter, as well.

Evelyn Boswell, (406) 994-5135 or [email protected]

http://www.montana.edu/commserv/csnews/nwview.php?article=685