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AAU-Cubesat”Educational Benefits from the AAU-Cubesat student satellite project”

by Student Ms. C. E.E. Lars Alminde, Aalborg university Denmark

Agenda for the Presentation

Mission and satellite overview

Management Approach

Benefits for students and lessons learned

Conclusion

Mission and Success Criteria

Mission success criteria:

1. Education

2. Establish contact

3. Acquire engineering data from the satellite

4. Take pictures of the Earth/Celestial bodies using the on-

board camera and attiude control

Project/Satellite Overview

Electrical subsystems: Power supply unit On board computer Attitude determination and control

system Communication unit

Other subssytems: Payload – Camera Mechanical structure Data handling system

Ground segment

A Finished Satellite!

Results of Operations Phase

Launched on the 30th of June: Launched by Eurockot Close to sun-synchronous polar orbit 7 small satellites shared the launch

Results of operations: Weak signal -> new ground station Battery lost capacity, close to inoperable Limited data acquired

Not all success criteria fulfilled, but the project is considered a great success

“Problem Oriented Group Work”

Basic principles at Aalborg university Each semester students form groups of about 5 people Each group selects a semesterproject from a number of proposals 50-66% of the time is spent on the project, rest is normal lectures Projects concludes with written report and oral exam Each group has an appointed supervisor

Benefits: Students are very motivated and work on their own initiatives Projectwork resembles “real” work in a company Projects are often defined with the local industry

Ideal for student satellite work!

Development Cycle

Project initiated September 2001 Definition and development phase ended June 2002 Integration and test phase ended April 2003 Operation phase from 30th of June 2003 (End of project 25th of September 2003)

2001 fall 2002 spring 2002 fall 2003 spring

5 ppl1 grps+ others

70 ppl10 grps

7 ppl3 grps+ others 5ppl

Organisation

Steering Committee

Supervisor group

Student GroupStudent GroupStudent Group

Secretary

Benefits and Lessons Learned

The Benefits for the Students: Very motivating work for students Challenging technical problems Experience with (inter-)group work It is FUN and PRESTIGOUS to be a part

What will we do different next time: Ensure higher degree of backing from participating

institutes Better handle students leaving the project Better utilize the outreach potential

Conclusion and Contact Info

In conclusion: Motivated and motivates many students Provided very good hands on training Experience with interdisciplinary work Experience with project management All at a price of about 200,000 Euro

For further information: Take a look at our homepage: www.cubesat.auc.dk Mail me: lalm00@control.auc.dk

Thanks to the ESA Education Office!