Hands On Space Flight Risk Reduction Training through Ground Based Dynamic Flight Testing
- Paper number
IAC-07-E1.4.10
- Author
Mr. David Barnhart, University of Southern California, United States
- Coauthor
Prof. Mike Gruntman, University of Southern California, United States
- Coauthor
Ms. Allison Anderson, University of Southern California, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Jason Cheng, University of Southern California, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Omer Faghfoor, University of Southern California, United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
USC has instituted an innovative educational and prototyping forum for spacecraft through the use of “hands-on” training of students through flight dynamic systems. USC’s Astronautics and Space Technology Division of the Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Information Sciences Institute has teamed to provide a strong three part foundation of Education/Research/Build to train the next generation space leadership and workforce, through development of very low cost flight dynamics risk reduction platforms. The first example of this new and innovative methodology resulted in “LEAPFROG”, the Lunar Entry and Approach Platform For Research On Ground project, a multi-semester design-to-flight student activity. LEAPFROG is developing a testbed lunar prototype vehicle that can fly repeated times over the course of a single day in free flight to simulate a lunar descent and landing sequence. The vehicle has active onboard guidance, navigation and attitude control, and the “hover” propulsion is supplied by a 50lbf model aircraft jet turbine engine. The concept was inspired by the LLRV that was used to train the Apollo astronauts at Dryden Research Center, and the hover flight tests at the National Hover Test Facility at Edwards AFB for KKV vehicle testing. The student project is supported through a combination of paid internships, directed research course and sponsored student organization. LEAPFROG is a Phased effort, with each subsequent semesters volunteers and students providing a step in the generation of the flight components, the flight time and performance, and the payload carrying capacity. The ultimate goal is to provide an actual flight platform for today’s national lunar landing missions to test early prototypes of key landing subsystems through a similar profile, and in similar dust and lighting conditions that will be experienced on the moon, on a very low cost flight platform. LEAPFROG is a low cost risk reduction platform for high cost and complex sensors, which provide today’s students hands on flight test training and design implementation for next generation spacecraft.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-E1.4.10.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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