Space Education Experience Through Student Satellite Development
- Paper number
IAC-11,E1,2,14,x11810
- Author
Mr. Jared Bottoms, University of Alberta, Canada
- Coauthor
Mr. Benjamin Lange, University of Alberta, Canada
- Year
2011
- Abstract
This paper addresses the design and developmental process of a Nano-Satellite by an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students at the University of Alberta. The Satellite, AlbertaSat-1, is the University of Alberta’s entry in the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CDSC); an initiative to entice Canadian students to contribute to the space technology and research industry. The province of Alberta, while home to a few companies, is very limited in it’s space industry capacity. The University of Alberta reflects this fact, where the major unifying focus of the University is oil, the provinces greatest resource. For students at the U of A, this lack of focus on astronautical and aerospace research limits their education in the space industry. A fully student operated project such as AlbertaSAT-1 provides this integral experience to almost every discipline. The AlbertaSAT-1 team is comprised of students from engineering, physics, chemistry, earth and atmospheric science, business, and computer science. While diverse in discipline, the team is also diverse in experience, spanning all levels from 1st year undergraduate to post-graduate students. Many skill sets are required and the diverse group sees that this is covered and all opinions voiced. Through immersion in the project, students learn quickly and efficiently. The necessity for a flawless product ensures that only the highest quality of work is presented. Students participating must research and understand their own subsystem as well as all others. This overall system view provides the best educational tool, as students are able to see the real impacts of their work on other subsystems. As the project is completely student organized, the participants gain not only technical space education, but experience in operations and financial management as well. The direct exposure to all aspects of the space industry trough a student satellite development program is one of the best methods of bringing space education and outreach to a willing region that does not currently have the capacity. A successful project provides benefits to both the students participating and the region.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)