Engineering topics

Yost, Bruce

Publications and source records attributed to Yost, Bruce.

6 records

NASA NTRS2018

State of the Art: Small Spacecraft Technology

This report provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art of small spacecraft technology, with particular emphasis placed on the state-of-the-art of CubeSat-related technology. It was first commissioned by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP) in mid-2013 in response to the rapid growth in interest in using small spacecraft for many types of missions in Earth orbit and beyond, and was revised in mid-2015 and 2018. This work was funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). For the sake of this assessment, small spacecraft are defined to be spacecraft with a mass less than 180 kg. This report provides a summary of the state-of-the-art for each of the following small spacecraft technology domains: Complete Spacecraft, Power, Propulsion, Guidance Navigation and Control, Structures, Materials and Mechanisms, Thermal Control, Command and Data Handling, Communications, Integration, Launch and Deployment, Ground Data Systems and Operations, and Passive Deorbit Devices.

Weston, Sasha↗

NASA NTRS2013

PhoneSat - The Smartphone Nanosatellite

PhoneSat 2.4, carried into space on November 19, 2013 aboard a Minotaur I rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, is the first of the PhoneSat family to use a two-way S-band radio to allow engineers to command the satellite from Earth. This mission also serves as a technology demonstration for a novel attitude determination and control system (ADCS) that establishes and stabilizes the satellites attitude relative to Earth. Unlike the earlier PhoneSats that used a Nexus One, PhoneSat 2.4 uses the Nexus S smartphone, which runs Googles Android operating system, and is made by Samsung Electronics Co., Suwon, So. Korea. The smartphone provides many of the functions needed by the satellite such as a central computer, data memory, ready-made interfaces for communications, navigation and power all pre-assembled in a rugged electronics package.

PhoneSat↗

NASA NTRS2013

PhoneSat - The Smartphone Nanosatellite

NASA's PhoneSat project tests whether spacecraft can be built using smartphones to launch the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space. Each PhoneSat nanosatellite is one cubesat unit - a satellite in a 10 cm (approx. 4 inches) cube or about the size of a tissue box - and weighs approximately 1 kg (2.2 pounds). Engineers believe PhoneSat technology will enable NASA to launch multiple new satellites capable of conducting science and exploration missions at a small fraction of the cost of conventional satellites.

COTS satellite components↗

NASA NTRS2013

PhoneSat - The Smartphone Nanosatellite

NASAs PhoneSat project will test whether spacecraft can be built using smartphones to launch the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space. Each PhoneSat nanosatellite is one cubesat unit - a satellite in a 10 cm (approx. 4 inches) cube or about the size of a tissue box - and weighs approximately three pounds. Engineers believe PhoneSat technology will enable NASA to launch multiple new satellites capable of conducting science and exploration missions at a small fraction of the cost of conventional satellites.

COTS satellite components↗

NASA NTRS2000

Fundamental Biological Research on the International Space Station

The fundamental Biology Program of NASA's Life Sciences Division is chartered with enabling and sponsoring research on the International Space Station (ISS) in order to understand the effects of the space flight environment, particularly microgravity, on living systems. To accomplish this goal, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) has been tasked with managing the development of a number of biological habitats, along with their support systems infrastructure. This integrated suite of habitats and support systems is being designed to support research requirements identified by the scientific community. As such, it will support investigations using cells and tissues, avian eggs, insects, plants, aquatic organisms and rodents. Studies following organisms through complete life cycles and over multiple generations will eventually be possible. As an adjunct to the development of these basic habitats, specific analytical and monitoring technologies are being targeted for maturation to complete the research cycle by transferring existing or emerging analytical techniques, sensors, and processes from the laboratory bench to the ISS research platform.

Souza, K. A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Atmosphere control for plant growth flight experiments

An atmosphere exchange system (AES) has been designed to provide a conditioned atmosphere supply to plant specimens in flight without incurring the large weight and volume associated with bottled gases. The paper examines the atmosphere filter cartridge (AFC) designed to remove trace organic atmosphere contaminants from the Space Shuttle cabin and to condition the cabin atmosphere prior to exposure to plant specimens. The AES and AFC are described and illustrated. The AFC design requirements are discussed and results are presented from tests on the performance of the AFC. Also, consideration is given to the potential applications of the AFC and future design concepts for atmosphere control.

Powell, Ferolyn T.↗