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NASA NTRS2014

Phonesat In-flight Experience Results

Consumer technology, over the last decade, has begun to encompass devices that enable us to figure out where we are, which way we are pointing, observe the world around us, and store and transmit this information to wherever we want. Once separate consumer products such as GPS units, digital cameras and mobile phones are now combined into the modern day Smartphone. Since these capabilities are remarkably similar to those required for the multi-million dollar satellites - so why not use a multihundred dollar Smartphone instead? The PhoneSat project of NASA Ames Research Center is developing technology demonstrations utilizing these extraordinary advances to show just how simple and cheap Space can be. The style of development revolves around the "release early, release often" Silicon Valley mentality. PhoneSat is a series of 1U CubeSat size spacecrafts that use an off-the-shelf Smartphone as their onboard computer. By doing so, PhoneSat takes advantage of the high computational capability, large memory as well as ultra-tiny sensors like high-resolution cameras and navigation devices that Smartphones offer. Along with a Smartphone, PhoneSat is equipped with other commercially available technology products, such as medical brushless motors that are used as reaction wheels. Over the four years that NASA Ames Research Center has been developing the PhoneSat project, different suborbital and orbital flight activities have proven the validity of this revolutionary approach. In early 2013, the PhoneSat project launched the first triage of PhoneSats into LEO. In the five day orbital life time, the nano-satellites flew the first functioning Smartphone based satellites (using the Nexus One and Nexus S phones), the cheapest satellite (a total parts cost below $3,500) and one of the fastest on-board processors (CPU speed of 1GHz). In late 2013, the PhoneSat project launched an improved version of its bus to a higher altitude orbit which provided data about the overall system's tolerance to the space environment. In this paper, an overview of the PhoneSat project as well as a summary of the in-flight experimental results is presented. NASA Ames Research Center is carrying on its effort to bring a paradigm shift in the way we conceive Space exploration, this new approach is certainly incarnated by PhoneSat. A set of eight PhoneSat-based CubeSats is manifested to launch in 2014 with the purpose of demonstrating new technical capabilities and being a pathfinder for future Spacecraft technology missions.

CubeSat↗
NASA NTRS2014

PhoneSat In-flight Experience Results

Over the last decade, consumer technology has vastly improved its performances, become more affordable and reduced its size. Modern day smartphones offer capabilities that enable us to figure out where we are, which way we are pointing, observe the world around us, and store and transmit this information to wherever we want. These capabilities are remarkably similar to those required for multi-million dollar satellites. The PhoneSat project at NASA Ames Research Center is building a series of CubeSat-size spacecrafts using an off-the-shelf smartphone as its on-board computer with the goal of showing just how simple and cheap space can be. Since the PhoneSat project started, different suborbital and orbital flight activities have proven the viability of this revolutionary approach. In early 2013, the PhoneSat project launched the first triage of PhoneSats into LEO. In the five day orbital life time, the nano-satellites flew the first functioning smartphone-based satellites (using the Nexus One and Nexus S phones), the cheapest satellite (a total parts cost below $3,500) and one of the fastest on-board processors (CPU speed of 1GHz). In this paper, an overview of the PhoneSat project as well as a summary of the in-flight experimental results is presented.

PhoneSat↗
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 NTRS2014

Integration of a MicroCAT Propulsion System and a PhoneSat Bus into a 1.5U CubeSat

NASA Ames Research Center and the George Washington University have developed an electric propulsion subsystem that can be integrated into the PhoneSat bus. Experimental tests have shown a reliable performance by firing three different thrusters at various frequencies in vacuum conditions. The three thrusters were controlled by a SmartPhone that was running the PhoneSat software. The subsystem is fully operational and it requires low average power to function (about 0.1 W). The interface consists of a microcontroller that sends a trigger pulses to the PPU (Plasma Processing Unit), which is responsible for the thruster operation. Frequencies ranging from 1 to 50Hz have been tested, showing a strong flexibility. A SmartPhone acts as the main user interface for the selection of commands that control the entire system. The micro cathode arc thruster MicroCAT provides a high 1(sub sp) of 3000s that allows a 4kg satellite to obtain a (delta)V of 300m/s. The system mass is only 200g with a total of volume of 200(cu cm). The propellant is based on a solid cylinder made of Titanium, which is the cathode at the same time. This simplicity in the design avoids miniaturization and manufacturing problems. The characteristics of this thruster allow an array of MicroCATs to perform attitude control and orbital correcton maneuvers that will open the door for the implementation of an extensive collection of new mission concepts and space applications for CubeSats. NASA Ames is currently working on the integration of the system to fit the thrusters and PPU inside a 1.5U CubeSat together with the PhoneSat bus into a 1.5U CubeSat. This satellite is intended to be deployed from the ISS in 2015 and test the functionality of the thrusters by spinning the satellite around its long axis and measure the rotational speed with the phone byros. This test flight will raise the TRL of the propulsion system from 5 to 7 and will be a first test for further CubeSats with propulsion systems, a key subsystem for long duration or interplanetary CubeSat missions.

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 NTRS2014

Micro Cathode Arc Thruster for PhoneSat: Development and Potential Applications

NASA Ames Research Center and the George Washington University are developing an electric propulsion subsystem that will be integrated into the PhoneSat bus. Experimental tests have shown a reliable performance by firing three different thrusters at various frequencies in vacuum conditions. The interface consists of a microcontroller that sends a trigger pulse to the Pulsed Plasma Unit that is responsible for the thruster operation. A Smartphone is utilized as the main user interface for the selection of commands that control the entire system. The propellant, which is the cathode itself, is a solid cylinder made of Titanium. This simplicity in the design avoids miniaturization and manufacturing problems. The characteristics of this thruster allow an array of μCATs to perform attitude control and orbital correction maneuvers that will open the door for the implementation of an extensive collection of new mission concepts and space applications for CubeSats. NASA Ames is currently working on the integration of the system to fit the thrusters and the PPU inside a 1.5U CubeSat together with the PhoneSat bus. This satellite is intended to be deployed from the ISS in 2015 and test the functionality of the thrusters by spinning the satellite around its long axis and measure the rotational speed with the phone gyros. This test flight will raise the TRL of the propulsion system from 5 to 7 and will be a first test for further CubeSats with propulsion systems, a key subsystem for long duration or interplanetary small satellite missions.

CUBESAT↗
NASA NTRS2010

PhoneSat: Ground Testing of a Phone-Based Prototype Bus

Most of the key capabilities that are requisite of a satellite bus are housed in today's smart phones. PhoneSat refers to an initiative to build a ground-based prototype vehicle that could all the basic functionality of a satellite, including attitude control, using a smart Phone as its central hardware. All components used were also low cost Commercial off the Shelf (COTS). In summer 2009, an initial prototype was created using the LEGO Mindstorm toolkit demonstrating simple attitude control. Here we report on a follow up initiative to design, build and test a vehicle based on the Google s smart phone Nexus One. The report includes results from initial thermal-vacuum chamber tests and low altitude sub-orbital rocket flights which show that, at least for short durations, the Nexus One phone is able to withstand key aspects of the space environment without failure. We compare the sensor data from the Phone's accelerometers and magnetometers with that of an external microelectronic inertial measurement unit.

Felix, Carmen↗
NASA NTRS2014

Modular Pulsed Plasma Electric Propulsion System for Cubesats

Current capabilities of CubeSats must be improved in order to perform more ambitious missions. Electric propulsion systems will play a key role due to their large specific impulse. Compared to other propulsion alternatives, their simplicity allows an easier miniaturization and manufacturing of autonomous modules into the nano and pico-satellite platform. Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPTs) appear as one of the most promising technologies for the near term. The utilization of solid and non-volatile propellants, their low power requirements and their proven reliability in the large scale make them great candidates for rapid implementation. The main challenges are the integration and miniaturization of all the electronic circuitry into a printed circuit board (PCB) that can satisfy the strict requirements that CubeSats present. NASA Ames and the George Washington University have demonstrated functionality and control of three discrete Micro-Cathode Arc Thrusters (CAT) using a bench top configuration that was compatible with the ARC PhoneSat Bus. This demonstration was successfully conducted in a vaccum chamber at the ARC Environmental Test Laboratory. A new effort will integrate a low power Plasma Processing Unit and two plasma thrusters onto a single printed circuit board that will utilize less than 13 U of Bus volume. The target design will be optimized for the accommodation into the PhoneSatEDISON Demonstration of SmallSatellite Networks (EDSN) bus as it uses the same software interface application, which was demonstrated in the previous task. This paper describes the design, integration and architecture of the proposed propulsion subsystem for a planned Technology Demonstration Mission. In addition, a general review of the Pulsed Plasma technology available for CubeSats is presented in order to assess the necessary challenges to overcome further development.

PCB↗
NASA NTRS2014

Nodes - Network & Operation Demonstration Satellite

Nodes is a technology demonstration mission that will launch from the International Space Station (ISS) in early 2015 and will demonstrate new network capabilities critical to the operation of swarms of multiple spacecraft. Nodes continues the legacy of the PhoneSat series of small satellites that first introduced and successfully implemented the use of Android Smartphone technology to perform many of the spacecraft functions previously accomplished through custom technology development efforts. The Nodes mission consists of two 1.5-unit (1.5U) nanosatellites each weighing approximately 2 kilograms (4 pounds) and measuring 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters by 15 centimeters. The Nodes spacecraft are derived from the hardware and software developed for the EDSN (Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks) mission (a swarm of eight spacecraft). Each Node utilizes the Android operating system with EDSN-specific software programmed to perform command and data handling tasks that allow the satellites to 1) relay ground commands through one satellite to the second satellite, 2) collect and relay science data from each satellite to the ground station, and 3) autonomously determine which of the two satellites is best suited to control the space network and relay data to the ground (“Captain”) and notify the ground system and second satellite (“Lieutenant”) of the result.

Network and Operations↗