WikiSat

The WikiSat project from Joshua Tristancho, Alex Csete, Anders Feder, Tobias Krieger, and Sonia Perez-Mansilla is a recent entry for the N-Prize, a challenge to place an ultra light satellite in orbit on an ultra light budget.  The N-Prize budget includes a satellite mass of ten to twenty grams, and a flight cost of a thousand pounds sterling.  The satellite must complete nine orbits.

These guys are developing the Texas Instruments MSP430 platform as a minimal mass, minimal power microprocessing architecture for space in a series of high altitude balloon test flights over Europe.  Their balloon test flights have been journaled on their website and on youtube.

The balloon test flights are tracked via GPS through redundant systems, via APRS, and an Android application called "Wikisat Balloon Recovery System".  Alex is working on APRS, Anders is working on WBRS.  The WBRS is two HTC Magic phones, one that flies and another in hand on the ground, and is installable on any `droid phone.  Both tracking systems rely on GPS, which is altitude limited, so they won't record the entirety of the flight.

The helium filled sounding balloon (US) (EU) can lift a kilogram, so there's mass to spare on the test flights.  But then they add a camera.  There's more info available from the Team FREDNET wiki.

The Team WikiSat N-Prize mission architecture is for a 100kg APCP ground launched rocket to place the WikiSat into a natural decay orbit.  The spacecraft will have no propulsion or attitude control, so the launcher is responsible for the flight.  International regulations against space debris require that the craft maintain position or deorbit.  The natural decay orbit is a common approach to deorbiting within the 25 year permitted timeframe -- heavy weight satellites reserve a final reaction / propulsion budget to enter a natural decay orbit at their end of life when it's no longer possible to maintain position.

As an all volunteer effort, Team WikiSat have adopted a "meetup" methodology.  It's a launch attempt, subject to integration and a final mission objective determination at the meetup.  Each individual is responsible for a component: Alex for the ground station, Tobias for the flight structure, Anders for the recovery system, Joshua for flight electronics, and Sonia for video reportage.  They come together in a meetup, fit the components together, do an integration test, and determine the mission profile.  The balloon flights test not only systems, but also the team.  Team WikiSat have designed their test flight program to develop their sense of both the challenge and their own capabilities.


The interview for this article is available online in our discussion group.

What is the size?

To get started in astrophysics, it is mandatory to have good simulator. That is why we have created a simple simulator with minimum performances. My brother Juan have programmed a Visual Basic application based on OpenGL with the equations I have provided to him. You can configure basic launch parameters and see the results in a 3D environment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRyv2jAqf_s

The aim of this article is to show how the launch parameters can affect in the cost and time for a standard mission to the Moon with a pay load like a PicoRover of 500 grams. There is a trade-off between time of travel and cost due to the propellant mass. Also there is a trade-off between propellant mass and technology required to implement such ultralight launcher.

Using an APCP (solid-propellant) first stage:

Weight .. Cost .. Stg1 .. Start-End .. at .. Hover DryW .. Time .. Dimensions

3020 kg 102103$ APCP 52-90º 18-60km 14.5kg 20% 1:00:01 7.31m x 80.84cm

1470 kg 49636$ APCP 46-90º 16-60km 9.5kg 20% 2:11:48 5.75m x 63.59cm

552.0kg 18656$ APCP 43-90º 18-59km 2.5kg 20% 1:12:03 4.14m x 45.88cm

373.0kg 12603$ APCP 43-90º 19-59km 1.6kg 20% 2:00:23 3.64m x 40.26cm

255.0kg 8617$ APCP 38-90º 18-58km 0.9kg 10% 2:12:27 3.20m x 35.47cm

234.5kg 7923$ APCP 38-90º 18-58km 0.8kg 10% 3:13:26 3.11m x 34.49cm
234.0kg 7906$ APCP 38-90º 18-58km 0.8kg 10% 4:02:59 3.11m x 34.46cm

Using a MMH (bi-propellant) first stage:

Weight .. Cost .. Stg1 .. Start-End .. at .. Hover .. DryWeight .. Total Time

119.5kg 1096$ MMH 39-90º 19-63km 0.9kg 10% 2:11:20 2.62m x 27.55cm
110.0kg 1009$ MMH 39-90º 19-63km 0.8kg 10% 3:15:29 2.55m x 26.80cm

109.8kg 1007$ MMH 39-90º 19-63km 0.8kg 10% 4:05:38 2.54m x 26.78cm

These are the parameters.

Weight: Is the total weight included hover and payload

Cost: Is only the costdue to the propellant. Development, construction and operation cost not included

Stg1: Is the type of propellant. Hover is always MMH because landing control requires liquid propelant

Start-End: Is the angle of thrust from an initial angle to the final angle in degrees. The initial angle is when the engine starts respect to the zenith vector at a given altitude. The final angle is when the engine is stopped t a given altitude and also respect to the zenith vector.

at: Is the range of altitudes when the launcher angle is set respect to the zenith vector from an initial angle at he initial ltitude to the final angle in the final altitude in kilometers.

Hover: Is the total weight of the Hover in kilograms without payload

Hover-DryWeight: Is the percent in weight of structure, instruments, etc. Payload not included

Total Time: Is the time required to land in the Moon

Dimensions: Is the length in meters and the diameter of the launcher in centimeters

This is an example of optimum trajectory of minimum energy:

The higher barrier is not physics

The space exploration is there waiting for us. The technology required was demonstrated last century and is available in Internet. Any person in the world from any country has the knowledge in there. We don't like allow this technology to the entire humanity because the fear. Governments try to control this technology in order to give a false hope that no one will use for non-peaceful use. At the end, the right to control a person act may remain in every person.

The higher barrier is not physics but in our minds. This is because sapce technology is so expesnive since the past century but it isn't at all.

Let's consider a real budget for an unmanned mission to the Moon like the GLXP.
Imagine we have a Lunar Rover of 500 grams of weight. According to the following study, using the cheapest industry means at least 1 million dollar plus development cost.

http://wiki.xprize.frednet.org/index.php/System_Overview#Example_.232_comparation_between_launchers

Joshua

Ultra Light Space Flight

Many people around the world are doing ultra light space flight: flying small robotic spacecraft at altitudes greater than 100 km.

Some are commercial, but many are individuals and groups. Perhaps the first were the amateur radio operators, flying satellites in Low Earth Orbit for communications relays. Some of the most recent are flying cubesats.

For me, the efforts of individuals and groups flying small robotic missions is the hallmark of ultra light space flight. So far only to LEO, but the European and American Student Moon Orbiters, and the GLXP, promise to push the enterprise beyond Low Earth Orbit.

The space economy is real. An abundance of solar energy, and materials from the Moon, Mars and Asteroids, are founding components of a plethora of possibilities.

Critical to the development of a new economy is minimizing barriers to entry. Because economies are diverse and require many classes of participants and investments in order to succeed. For the space economy, space flight is overhead. Pure Cost.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the principal barrier to the new world was an ambitious ocean crossing.

Today, the principal barrier to space is the Earth's Gravity Well.  In achieving orbit or better, a space craft escapes the Earth's gravity. The propellant mass required of a rocket is described by Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation.

With open internet resources for space flight engineering, the economic barriers are minimized, innovation is propelled, and the general space economy gains another quantum of momentum.

Today, some of the best work being done on open space flight systems is being done by a group of volunteers named Team FREDNET, in pursuit of the GLXP.

For me, the stars of this show include Joshua Tristancho
and Alex Csete.

Joshua is working in a number of areas with his group at UPC, but at the top of the stack he's developing a minimal mass lunar rover named PicoRover.

Alex is also working in a number of areas, but perhaps first most importantly he is developing our knowledge of practical space communications for a ground station.

Together, Team FREDNET is working on the space flight problem daily.

In the world, there's so much more that could be done.