A few years ago Jim started a project called Space in Africa, he and a small team produced/contributed to the following reports:

http://isulibrary.isunet.edu/opac/doc_num.php?explnum_id=200

http://www.spacerenaissance.org/ASRC/

http://www.espi.or.at/index.php?option=com_content&id=21

However Jim is no longer able committee time to this research and would like to pass the baton over to the next generation – that means you.

If you’re interested I advise dropping him an email.

The team have already started work on the next stage of the project: the Preliminary Design Review, which will be submitted in February.  Again, representatives will need to travel to present our work, this time to the launch site in northern Sweden.

If you are interested in find out more about the project you can check the UKSEDS Project page or the PoleCATS team website.

To follow the team’s progress why not follow us on Twitter or like our new Facebook page?

Simply come up with an excellent idea for a branch project, create a project outline and submit it to the UKSEDS Committee. We will then select the best idea(s) and present your branch with up to £500 to be put towards the cost of making your project a reality.

Competition Timetable

19 November                             Competition Announced

31 December                             Closing Date for Entries

February                                     Winner Announced

Project Outline
There is no required format for this, but it should include the following.

• A description of the project including how you intend to carry it out (demonstrating that it is technically feasible).
• A list of equipment required and a reasonable estimate of the cost, as well as detailing other potential or existing sources of funding.
• If additional help is required (e.g. access to facilities, licence etc) details of how this will be obtained.
• An outline of how you will share your project with the wider community (This could be talking to or involving local schools/scouts etc., blog/website/Twitter, talking on local radio…use your imagination).
• How you could potentially cooperate with other branches and their members, and the benefit the project brings to UKSEDS nationally
• A list of any potential risks if any e.g. safety issues, not getting required licence etc.
• Contact details – including a main and secondary contact with an email address and phone number for each.

As a rough guide we would not expect the Outline to be more than 3 sides of A4.

Outlines should be submitted electronically to competition@ukseds.org

Gradcracker is the UK’s careers website for engineering and technology students.

Students can find the latest opportunities relevant to their degree discipline and can search for graduate programmes, jobs and work placements.

Gradcracker is an advertising platform for the employers and a careers resource for our students – it has no involvement in directly providing employers with candidates. Employers pay to advertise on gradcracker.com and all the student services we provide are free. Gradcracker is not a recruitment agency and therefore does not charge employers to employ students.

UKSEDS now has its own page on Gradcracker.  Getting a job in this day and age is proving to be quite difficult, I should know, being a living example of that! By registering with Gradcracker, not only does this allow relevant companies to contact and network with you, it will also directly aid UKSEDS run projects as GRADCRACKER WILL PROVIDE FUNDING BASED ON THE NUMBERS OF MEMBERS WE HAVE.

So please go and sign up, it only takes 1 minute and they won’t endlessly spam your inbox into submission.

SIGN UP HERE

The path of the HAB from launch near Cambridge to recovery near Norwich, detail altitude at various points.

A full report on the findings can be found here but to summarise – Almost nine hundred photographs were recovered, along with data from the sensors and the carbon pads bearing aerosols. Temperature and pressure data corresponded well with the standard atmosphere model, as shown below. The collected aerosols were examined in the laboratory using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). It was unfortunately not possible to obtain quantitative results in the available time but a successful initial investigation showed that it was possible to identify the chemical composition of microscopic particles collected on the carbon pads.

Photo timeline - a selection of the 888 photos take

Our results compared to the accepted results (in pink)

Combined results for temperature, pressure and altitude (in descending order)

• Space systems engineering workshop with Dr Jenny Kingston – how to plan and design your own space missions.
• “The Scientific Case for renewed Robotic and Human Exploration of the Moon” – a talk by Dr Ian Crawford
• Branches summit – a chance to network with colleagues and develop new project ideas.
• MBed workshop – Electronics and integrated chip programming for your projects.
• Spacecraft operations with VEGA and Dan Kent – software training and introduction.
• High Altitude Ballooning with Steve Randall – demonstration of how easy it is to run your own HAB missions.
• Zoe’s birthday – not actually part of the workshop but as we’re making Zoe work on her birthday, we probably should do something to say thanks (for the cake)

Whether you’re in an established branch looking for help or expertise with your projects, or just looking to be inspired by all the exciting things our members get up to, we’ll have something for everything. We especially want to see you if you’re interested in setting up a new branch – just be there with your friends and we’ll be on hand to help you with any and all your queries.  All you’ll need is a laptop, stationary, lunch and plenty of ideas and enthusiasm!

To keep up to date with developments, please add yourself on our facebook event where applicable

We look forward see you all there

UKSEDS Committee 2011/2012

The University of Bristol’s very own UKSEDS branch, Bristol SEDS, launched it’s maiden project last week to collect Upper tropospheric dust particles, via High Altitude weather balloon as well testing the standard atmosphere model and taking some tourist snaps. Using an old goods box salvaged from a local Chinese take away, a spare digital camera, a couple of hand warmers, a free MBed from the nice people at MBed, lots of gaffa tape, a man named Steve and generous funding from the Aerosol society and the Royal Meteorological society, not to mention NEXUS we were able to send our payload to 20,000 feet. Construction, coding and testing completed by within 2 months and was successfully launched from EARS near Cambridge on August the 13th. Despite fears it would end up in the North sea the payload was successfully recovered in a field south of Norwich having travelled 60 miles with all the important scientific equipment. Dramatic photos, vital data and the ice nucleation particles from the upper atmosphere were recovered and are awaiting further analysis to be published this autumn. The successful team helped themselves to cake as a reward!

Full report

Research into the technicalities of a high altitude balloon mission began in December 2010 and continued throughout the academic year. There were many aspects to look into, such as the science of helium launches, the building of tracking devices, the programming of the payload, and the safety restrictions and legalities.
After posting a question about suitable launch sites on the UK High Altitude Society website, we were contacted by Steve Randall of Random Engineering (the primary meteorological balloon supplier in the UK) very kindly offering us the use of the East Anglian Rocketry Society launch site near Elsworth, Cambridgeshire. The site had a summer-long Civil Aviation Authority weekend permit for balloon launches, and Steve’s considerable experience in launches from there meant that many hurdles were thereby overcome.
A microcontroller was donated by mbed and a polystyrene chilled foods container reused from a local whole foods shop. Insurance cover was arranged with the University of Bristol and guidance given by a senior lecturer in flight mechanics. Matters were complicated somewhat by the end of the university term when most of the team had to leave Bristol to return to their respective home towns, but frequent communication via email meant that tasks could still be completed and the payload assembled.
In the days leading up to the launch, the CU Spaceflight Landing Predictor (http://habhub.org/predict/) was used to estimate the trajectory of the balloon. Following this, the launch had to be postponed once due to an inappropriate predicted landing location. Rescheduling meant that unfortunately several members of the team were unable to make it to the site but they were in contact via mobile phone during the day. Those that could make it travelled from Wiltshire, Kent and London to meet at Biggleswade; from there they made their way to the site in time to prepare for the launch.

The initial plan was to use 2.5m3 of helium, but following several predictions of a landing in the North Sea, the decision was made to increase this volume to 3m3. This increased the ascent rate, thus vertically traversing the high altitude winds without too much horizontal deviation. The launch itself went without problems, and the team, with Steve, drove in the general direction of the balloon’s flight. A radio was picked up near Diss and the payload located and retrieved from a field.
The photos were very successful, as were the temperature and pressure measurements. The humidity data revealed a fault in the probe causing two lines of data to be recorded at once on several occasions. The aerosol investigations in the SEM proved more time consuming than initially anticipated so it was not possible to acquire qualitative results. Systematic targeting of particles on samples and controls over a significant time period would be require for any statistical analysis. Nevertheless, the concept of collecting particles on carbon pads and analysing them using EDX was proved and perhaps in future the experiment will be continued.
Future missions will first concentrate on improving the tracking system to ensure safe recovery after each launch. Numerous projects are envisioned, including an extension of the aerosol study using onboard experiments, testing the effects of radiation on electronics, measuring how the intensity and type of radiation changes with altitude, and a cosmic ray experiment using photographic film. Adaptations to the balloon flight itself are also a possibility, for example attempting to maintain the balloon at a constant altitude for a set time or launching a rocket from the payload just before burst height to try to reach the space boundary. Now that a successful mission has been completed, public and/or schools could be invited to future launches as outreach events.

You can read the press release from the UK Space Agency here.

Find out more about myPocketQub 442 here.

The payload will give up to 365 people the chance to develop virtual payloads and run them in space for a day each.

More details about how to participate will be announced at the UK Space Conference in July.

16:30 – Arduinos making music (or noise take your pick) and you can controll them by hand. Awesome. Roger made a red LED imitate human heartbeat

15:30 – The whole place turned into an Arduino workshop the two room now merged that second Labview workshop finished

15:20 – I just meet Bristol branch rep and they are planning a balloon launch experiment, and we will help them to get the funding for their idea. If you are near Bristol and want to get involved contact them!

14:50 – People hacking away on Arduinos. Loads of laptops and blinking LEDs everywhere.

14:39 – Arduino workshop, currently learning about the wearable LilyPad which is a sawable, washable arduino chip!

13:45 – Second LabView hands on session happening now! Also an open discussion is going on about possible future myPocketQub projects.

12:30 – After loads more interesting STK scenarios we break for lunch. Off to the pub! Others stay for the first LabView workshop.

12:15 – Playing more with STK and Q&A. How to fly your aircraft with STK, and what is that UAV doing over Scotland? A live simulation with many 100s of objects, live UAV control and military target identification all in STK.

12:00 – We have a satellite on orbit with communication link to New York. Nice one!

11:50 – Back at the STK workshop the satellite orbit simulation is coming along nicely. People following the instructions on their laptops. STK can use collada models, we put an A380 to space you can also export google sketchup models directly.

11:45 – I just saw the setup for the Labview workshop. Loads of laptops, it looks really exciting, I can’t wait.

11:40 – I just chatted to the Arduino workshop people, and we agreed that Arduinos are the easiest and fastest way to interact software and hardware for your DYI project. They have a small robot for the workshop.

11:35 – STK workshop starting. Free trial license for everyone.

11:30 – Slight change in the program to allow everyone to attend the sessions they want to. Workshop website now updated accordingly.

11:20 – Adruino workshop is being set up. Loads of cool looking hardware and some new Arduino Uno boards from coolcomponents!

11:10 – Tour of the telescope outside. Everything snowy!

tour of the observatory

11:00 -10 min coffee break, I should catch up with people, oh and there are jaffa cakes

10:55 – Live STK demo, you can even model terrain! Even on the Moon, or Mars!

10:45 – STK presentation starts, workshops after this!

10:44 – Labview offers student internships. Considering they do stuff with CERN, NASA and loads of other interesting companies around the globe you might want to get one! Check out their website for details!

10:30 – Live Labview demo. A temperature sensor hacked together in less than a minute. It is very high level, powerfull and easy to use.

10:16 – Labview presentation starts

10:15 – AMSAT deploying ground stations to schools and universities. If you want to join or get a radio license drop us a line.

10:10 – AMSAT launched over 70 satellites to date and they are planning a mission to Mars!

9:46 – AMSAT presentation starts.

9:45 – I arrived late after getting lost in the pretty snowy countryside. Its a nice drive up to the observatory. Sadly I missed Roger and Michael talking, I will ask them to give me an update later.

note: all this from a single perspective, there are loads more going on here, and loads of interesting people to talk to!

The workshop will be a one day affair, sited at the Norman Lockyer Observatory in the beautiful Devon countryside.   The event will be free to attend, though a donation to the NLO is encouraged, however the attendee  will have to cover their own travel & accommodation.  If you would like to attend, drop us a line! We will have a finite number of places available, and also we’d like to gauge interest.  If this event is successful, then we might make it a regular thing (maybe in a location near to you)

The action-packed, hands-on programme will cover a variety of aspects of satellite design and engineering.  On the agenda:

• AGI STK workshop – How do you use AGI’s STK to simulate a cubesat in LEO? How about a mission to Mars? Find out and have a go! A 7-day education licence is available for anyone interested in this. Bring your own laptop!
• National Instruments LabView workshop. We’re building ground station software! How? Find out! Again, bring your own laptop!
• Arduino for noobs (that’s me – chair). Arduino is the open source solution for your electronic hardware desires. We’re using these on our PocketQub satellite project! What does it take to get it working? Find out!
• ‘Ardcore Arduino! We’re going to push the boundaries as far as we can! How can we program an Arduino for use as a ‘virtual satellite payload’? Up for a challenge? Two words: Hell yeah!
• Other stuff: dig a dish, start a SETI group, plan a satellite mission, …

Also, we intend to hold a branches summit.  Those in any one of our branches or affiliated societies are encouraged to attend.  We hope to discuss UKSEDS activities & projects of the future and how our branches can play their part.

Get in touch if you’ve any questions,  etc.  There is, of course, the option to discuss this in the forums.

]]> http://ukseds.org/ukseds-satellite-workshop-branches-summit/feed/ 0