News Events
August 13, 2008 - 9:45am
After two days of testing, our Flight software has passed the first four test procedures. Now there only remains two prior to concluding our tests and releasing our Flight software. One test is a GPS recording and downlinking test which will be conducted this morning. The final test will be a satellite health test to verify our on-board health manager. The health manager test is split into two parts; a 24-hour real time clock test and a second test to record health data, charge the batteries properly and downlink data to our ground support software. Our 24-hour real time clock test is to insure our on-board clock can remain accurate over an extended period of time. This capability will be crucial when setting communication windows or GPS recording sessions.
August 10, 2008
Client Release Candidate 4 has begun this week and will continue through the 22nd of August. This should allow any remaining noteworthy additions to be completed and tested prior to school starting on the 25th. Our primary goals for this release candidate include the implementation of several outstanding satellite commands and a new context help system. Several commands have not been implemented in either our primary Client control panels or our command list. These commands have not been needed in past months as they are associated generally with testing. However, we are switching our testing procedures over to our Client so therefore those commands will need to be implemented.
Several of our graduate students have traveled to Utah for the Small Satellite Conference taking place the 11th through the 14th. There they will present our progress with AggieSat2, its mission and its future implications for AggieSat3 and our Lab. Presentation material used at the Small Satellite Conference will be posted on our website later this week.
August 8, 2008
We've retrieved pictures from a GPS test conducted two months ago on top of the North Campus Garage. NASA requires at least 4 satellites to be visible for their data to be valid. Therefore we sought the highest platform available which happen to be the North Campus Garage attached to our building. AggieSat Team members carefully carted our Engineering Design Unit up five flights of stairs to the top parking lot of the garage. A thirty minute recording session was performed while our EDU was nested in a cardboard box on the garage brick railing. After completing the recoding session we extracted our GPS data using an SD Card reader. Unfortunately we were not able to receive any GPS satellites during our recording session. Later discussions lead to a discovery of damage to our GPS antenna cable. Future tests will be conducted using a new GPS antenna in hopes of successfully recording data from multiple satellites.
Client, Release Candidate 3, has been released today as anticipated with all planned features implemented. Our Client software now has the ability to download GPS data from multiple recording sessions and to upload new flight software directly to our satellite. The flight software upload test was therefore conducted using Flight-1.0-rc6, currently under development, with complete success. Preliminary work has been made to implement an update tool, context help menu and a mock version of our Flight software for ground support training. Release Candidate 4 goals and expectations will be posted later this week after the software team has finalized Release Candidate 3.
In addition to Client, work on our flight software has been progressing on schedule with final release expected by late next week. Several issues were encountered yesterday while developing the Client including an error within the GPS manager. That issue along with an issue with beaconing were immediately corrected and tested prior to closing the issues out. Beginning early next week members of AggieSat Lab will begin putting our flight software through a software release process that tests software features for functionality.
August 6, 2008
Our Engineering Design Unit was fully assembled with several modifications required for radio tests. Only a single solar panel, on the patch antenna side, was attached to the satellite. Cables connecting the antennas to our on-board radios were disconnected, attached to cable extensions and left protruding from the satellite. Those cables would be used later by students from the Electrical Engineering Department to calculate the antenna resonance frequencies.
Yesterday's radio tests were originally planned to take place outdoors but were moved inside as a consequence of Hurricane Edouard. A ten foot ladder with a secure mount was used to grasp our EDU above ground level to diminish interference. We were able to successfully test our monopole antenna used for downlink communications and therefore determine its resonance frequency. Tests on our uplink patch antenna were unsuccessful owing to a likely faulty antenna cable. After removing the faulty cable, a replacement was fabricated and tested to assure continuity. A repeat of yesterday's test would be conducted using the new patch antenna cable and today's originally scheduled test using our ground support hardware would be postponed until next week.
A second test was conducted this afternoon using the new cable with our uplink patch antenna. Though the test was successful, two resonance frequencies were discovered. An initial discussion with a professor within the Electrical Engineering Department has lead to the conclusion that interference from our solar panel is causing the multiple resonance frequencies. Therefore AggieSat Lab members, over the next week, will look into possible solutions for isolating the patch antenna from interference caused by the solar panel. Further tests will then continue starting next Friday with a repeat test of the patch antenna followed by a test of our ground support hardware.
August 4, 2008
Radio tests have been delayed by a day and will therefore take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. This delay was caused by additional time needed to assemble solar panels for our Engineering Design Unit. At least two solar panels, four solar cells in a circular configuration, are essential to assure proper gain measurements.
Work has now begun on our new Content Management System, CMS-1.0-rc1, which will conclude sometime in October or November. Our CMS software will provide a framework for our website and allow for more interactive features. Those features will include a team blog system, photo and video galleries, and live data as we receive it from our satellite.
August 2, 2008
On July 27 Release Candidate 2 of our Client software, in support of AggieSat2, was released. Included with rc2 is a new graphical user interface designed and implemented to support a user friendly interface with our satellite. In addition to a new GUI, the capability to download GPS data was also implemented along with an event logging system for later data analysis. Already our Client software has performed admirably during tests with our Engineering Design Unit.
Work has now begone on Release Candidate 3 which will provide software upload capabilities for our satellite, correct bugs found during testing of rc2 and improve run-time performance. Expected release date for rc3 is August 8, just prior to Flight Unit assembly. In the past week we've managed to implement the capability to download Health Records recorded and stored by our on-board flight software and implement a log view to display historical health data retrieved from the satellite.
On Monday and Tuesday of this upcoming week, tests will be conducted by members of AggieSat Lab and students within the Electrical Engineering Department to qualify our flight radio capabilities. They'll be conducting tests to determine gain patterns and effective radiated power output for both our flight and ground communication systems.
July 13, 2008
Release Candidate 2, Client-1.0-rc2, of our Client software is scheduled for completion on July 27 and will support a new graphical user interface and underlying MVC software design. In addition, our Client will better support hardware testing and mock missions that will be conducted over the next month and a half. To build the user interface, Project Managers along with other AggieSat team members were brought onto the software team where daily meetings were conducted to hash out an interface specification. That specification was then implemented by those same individuals to gauge how useful the interface would be for each user. Finally, code implementation will be conducted over the next two weeks to add functionality to our actual graphical interface.
Additional furniture is being transferred from an Aerospace Department Lab to AggieSat Lab to provide additional room to work on AggieSat2 related tasks. In addition to having an area in which to eat, we'll have workstations to conduct hardware prototyping and server management. Therefore are Assembly Lab stations will become more available for hardware assembly and testing.
Officially our mission has been schedule for May 15, 2009, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-127. Texas A&M University's and University of Texas' satellites will be contained within a Space Shuttle Picosat Launcher attached to the payload bay sidewall. Our mission is currently designated as DRAGONSAT or Dual RF Autonomous GPS On-Orbit Navigator Satellite. Our satellites will be launched from the SSPL after Endeavour has departed the international space station around the 27 of May. Times are subject to change but we will continue to update our website with the latest information as we receive it from NASA.
June 28, 2008
Our Engineering Design Unit has successfully completed several single say endurance tests. On Tuesday, our EDU was tested while in its On Ground mode using serial for communications. On Wednesday, we tested the EDU in its On Orbit mode using a single radio for both uplink and downlink communications. Further, multiple day, tests will be conducted by end of next week to determine if our Electrical Power System can handle continuous charging and discharging of the batteries.
Prior to beginning mock missions, our new Client program must be completed by the software team. This new Client will better support current hardware tests, and will eventually be used for our mission next year. It has already completed the first milestone by successfully communicating with our EDU by pinging it.
June 21, 2008
We successfully completed the Engineering Design Unit Wednesday afternoon, June 18. Though several delays were encountered, there were no major issues with any of our control boards. Upon attaching the radios and our GPS unit, each responded successfully to testing by members of our team. Our software team was also able to continue testing our flight software, version 1.0-rc5, to better handle battery charging in extreme conditions.
Space within AggieSat2 is very limited as shown by these pictures, however, our students did an excellent job during its design. During actual assembly a thermistor attached to a radio had to be moved to an opposite side to accommodate limited space available between the radio and shielding. Also a hysteresis rod was left out pending a minor modification of the AggieSat2 configuration.
Our next phase of testing includes 10-hour and, week long endurance tests on the EDU to determine if our satellite can handle a full, 90 day mission. These tests will be accomplished by leaving the satellite on, in its On Orbit mode, and simulating orbital operations including communication passes and GPS data collection. These tests should begin mid next week and will continue through July when we will begin assembling our flight unit for NASA.
June 15, 2008
We've begun assembly of our Engineering Test Unit with an expected completion date of either late Monday or early Tuesday. Though our initial estimate was by late Friday, several components took longer to assemble than expected. Work began with the assembly of C&DH and EPS together on the bottom face plate of our satellite structure. Both boards were connect together, with an additional cable connecting EPS to the Ground Support Breakout Box that connects to our ground station computer. During the initial programming of the on board processor, the satellite failed to communicate with our computer.It was determined to be an issue with pin selections made during earlier test phases. However, running our software in debug mode allowed for the C&DH and EPS boards to beacon as expected.
Currently, as of today, our Engineering Design Unit sits with an attached battery pack which will eventually be placed inside the satellite, and an inhibit switch which acts as an on/off switch. Continuing Monday, each component will be attached and tested separately to insure each works before closing our satellite structure.
June 10, 2008
We've moved our website from our old host over to our own internal web server aptly named Europa. By using our own server, we'll be capable of involving you, the visitor, with our ongoing projects on a more interactive basis. This includes our new section called Mission Control which will be updated with AggieSat2 launch information as we receive it from NASA. Also, during the AggieSat2 mission next year we will be capable of posting data on our website as we receive it from the satellite.
Last month we backed out of SHOT 2, allowing us to devote more resources to our AggieSat2 and AggieSat3 projects. Though we won't be able to conduct long distance radio tests, we're still able to test hardware and software in a near space environment.
Currently all work is progressing towards completion of our Engineering Test Unit by late Friday. Our software team is progressing through test procedures before releasing software version 1.0-rc4. Also, a new ground support breakout box is under construction that will allow for our satellite to be connected through an intermediate box to our ground station computer. This will allow for the faster switching between our ground serial connection and our on orbit radios without needing to remove or add cables during testing.
In addition to work on the Engineering Test Unit, the software team has begun working on our new client software that will manage ground station operations. This software is designed to be portable and scalable such that it will not only handle mission operations, but will also handle software testing and our AggieSat3 project.
April 28, 2008
AggieSat Lab's presentation by Hutson Betts at the Hudnall Planetarium went flawlessly. His speech lasted about 25 minutes and covered AggieSat2 and AggieSat3 missions. It also included a description of future scientific missions that could be conducted by NASA given the equipment AggieSat Lab will be utilizing.
April 21, 2008
AggieSat Lab has finally moved into our new location at the Munnerlyn building. For the next several days, students will focus on reestabishing the lab and unpacking all of our equipment brought over from our old location. Our new facility includes one central room, pictured right, that will contain our Team AggieSat computer equipment.
Also, our new facility contains five offices, one for the lab director, one for our software team leader, two for lab managers, and one for satellite design sessions. Also, we'll have an assembly lab, pictured left, for building satellite hardware, a conference room, and a storage room for our servers.
April 19, 2008
Today AggieSat Lab officially packed all equipment at our current location, the University Services Building, before our move to our new facilities. Starting early this morning, students arrived to assist in breaking down computers, furniture, and lab equipment including all hardware associated with AggieSat2. Our assembly lab, where all hardware prototyping and testing occurs, was completely packed except for equipment that is not required for our current projects. Any additional equipment that is not required at our new location will be left at the University Services Building as AggieSat Lab will continue to hold those rooms.
What was once our Team AggieSat room, as pictured on the far left with students present, has been packed and turned into temporary storage until Monday. Our new facility will contain an equivalent lab space where we will reestablish the Team AggieSat lab. Our new facilities will also contain space for a small server room where all servers used by the software team will be located for continued use by all our projects.
Beginning Monday morning, all packed material will be moved to our new location at the Munnerlyn (Astronomy and Space Sciences Engineering) Building. Students will then proceed to unpack and set up a new computer lab and hardware assembly lab. Work at AggieSat will proceed as scheduled beginning Tuesday morning with the continuation of AggieSat2 hardware and software testing.
By moving on campus, our new location will make trips by on-campus students, and students without vehicles more convenient. Also, students will be capable of working more effectively around their class schedules by eliminating the time required to travel between the campus and our current facilities.
Due to our change in location and facility, we will be unreachable by phone or fax at our current numbers. However, we're still reachable by email or web form at anytime during the week. Once we've been able to unpack we'll update our contact phone and fax numbers on our Contact Us page.
April 15, 2008
AggieSat Lab's balloon satellite team has finalized their parts. Parts that will be included within the satellite will consist of:
- Electrical Power System
- Command & Data Handling
- Downlink Radio
- Heaters
- Camera
April 5, 2008
AggieSat Lab's balloon satellite team meet today to discuss the SHOT workshop and to finalize their satellite design. Their SHOT mission objective is: The primary objective is to Provide a high altitude RF test of representative lab communications hardware in preparation for AggieSat’s 2 & 3. The goal is successful data transmission from maximum altitude of a scientific balloon and measure received signal strengths for a prototype flight COMM system using representative lab hardware and link configuration. This data will be used to confirm and improve link budgets. The secondary objective of this test is to expose supporting prototype hardware for AggieSat 2 and 3 to a near space environment.
For testing the Communications system, the radios that are currently scheduled to fly as part of AggieSat2 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour and later on AggieSat3 will be utilized. Also, our prototype hardware, currently in its flatsat configuration and used previously for testing prior to construction of the Engineering Unit, will be used aboard the balloon satellite.
April 4, 2008
As part of the Nanosat 5 competition with the Air Force, AggieSat Lab will take part in the launching of a balloon satellite. During each summer of a Nanosat competition, participating universities send students to Boulder, Colorado to the University of Colorado to take part in the building and launching of a miniature satellite attached to a high altitude balloon. These miniature satellites demonstrate aspects of their nano-satellites scientific missions and capabilities. Several students from AggieSat Lab have been selected to represent Texas A&M, and will begin the process of designing a balloon satellite for this summer's SHOT workshop.
March 29, 2007
Our AggieSat2 Engineering Unit has been completed and will under go rigorous tests over the next several weeks. An Engineering Unit is a completed version of a satellite that represents what is expected to be contained within the flight version, but is not built to those same standards. An engineering unit allows students to throughly test each component of the satellite while its fully assembled. Such testing was conducted today by interfacing our ground control software with the satellite over their respective wireless radios. During todays test, data was successfully gathered from one of two ports on our NASA built GPS unit. Further tests will include battery charging from solar cells, health monitoring, and the ability to store and retrieve data from on board flash memory.
March 26, 2007
AggieSat Lab will be presenting at the Public Astronomy Lecture Series located at the Hudnall Planetarium in Tyler, Texas on April 26 at 7:00p.m. We'll post additional information about the Lecture, including topic information, later this week under Educational Programs.
Plans are underway to move over to new facilties at the Munnerlyn (Astronomy and Space Sciences Engineering) Building attached to north campus garage. This move will expand both our total working floor space as well as offer on-campus students a more convient location to work.
March 25, 2007
Brand new website has been completed and uploaded with a new look, expanded content, and an in-depth review of all AggieSat Lab projects. Our new website utilizes the latest in web standards to take advantage of emerging browser features and capabilities. We will continue to expand our website throughout the year as we add additional interactive features that will better involve all interested parties.
AggieSat2 has entered into the testing phase with student engineers focusing on testing how flight software interacts with prototype hardware. Upon successfull completion of these tests, construction of the final flight version of AggieSat2 will begin. Final delivery to NASA should take place in late July or early August. Upon delivery, NASA will begin its own tests in preperation for storage aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, with an expect launch around mid spring 2009.
AggieSat Lab has successfully completed the Air Force's Critical Design Review on February 27th. This design review required members of AggieSat to stand before representatives from the Air Force and NASA and defend their portions of AggieSat3. CDR provides an opportunity for the Air Force to asses progress made by our Lab, and to review design decisions made by students. After CDR, student engineers will reiterate their designs and make changes suggested by the attending representatives. These changes include antenna design and reposition, software design simplification, and mission startup sequence.
Preparations are underway for AggieSat Lab to move to its new facility on the main Texas A&M University campus. Since AggieSat began in early 2005 we have been working at a Texas A&M facility a short distance from the campus across Highway 6. However, we have acquired room in a recently renovated two story building that served previously as the General Studies department offices'. AggieSat Lab will occupy half of the first floor, which will include offices, a server room and computer lab space. Also, our lab will retain our current space at the University Service Building, and will have access to new flight test facilities the Aerospace Department is currently building.