Gabriel Laufer, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and a team of mostly undergraduate engineers seem to have struck the right balance between theory and reality.
On April 26, they plan to launch a payload with infrared atmospheric sensors to the edge of the sensible atmosphere. The payload has the sensors and its supporting equipment.
The launch will take place at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
"Real engineering is a compromise between what you analyze and what you can do," Laufer said.
If the experiment goes as planned, the team will launch a more robust version of the payload next year - this time with more sensors and the ability to collect more useful data.
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Eventually the sensors will detect pollution runoff into the Chesapeake and into the ocean.
With this information, the team will collaborate with the Virtual Remote Sensing Center at George Mason University to inform the Commonwealth of its pollution levels, Laufer said.
The project gives engineers valuable experiences, said fourth-year Engineering student Jeff Dawson, the project's manager.
"This is the type of stuff I would be doing in the real world: managing a project and trying to draw on a bunch of resources from students, companies and the government," Dawson said.
NASA's Orion rocket will propel the payload more than 30 miles into the outer atmosphere. Although some NASA satellites in orbit can return pollution data, Laufer says this project will provide more accurate data.
"There is a satellite in space that is 300 miles up that does similar things," he said. Data collected from this payload "would validate its data because it will have better resolution."
Dawson also said this project is unique.
"This type of sensor has never been flown before. There are other sensors but this one has a faster analysis time," he said.
Payload specifications
The team designed the experiment - which is part of the University of Virginia's Infrared Sensing Experiment (UVIRSE) - to test the viability of launching an entirely student-based payload.
The payload is about 14 inches in diameter, 45 inches long, and weighs 214 pounds.
Along with the infrared sensors, the payload includes a data recorder, power source and video camera.
The team expects the flight to last about 20 minutes, after which it will splash down in the ocean somewhere close to the launch site, Dawson said.
The final version of the payload, which will be launched next year, will fly for about 30 to 40 minutes and will measure the concentration of methane in the stratosphere.
Project's inception
Students in Aerospace Design, AE 442 and MAE 364, designed the payload with help from James Madison University students.
Although most of the students are undergraduate aerospace engineering majors, electrical engineering majors and mechanical engineering majors also have helped. The group also includes one graduate student.
About three years ago, Laufer consulted various faculty members and professional engineers before seeking sponsors for the project.
Eventually NASA and Litton, PRC - an engineering corporation that runs suborbital launches at Wallops - provided significant resources, including labor and equipment.
Litton has provided the team more than $100,000.
The Virginia Space Grant Consortium, the School of Engineering, and the mechanical and aerospace engineering department also came on board.
What next?
Tomorrow the team will conduct tests that create conditions similar to the launch. But the team may push back the April 26 launch date.
"If the payload gets damaged during the test, we would have to fix it and make sure it doesn't get damaged again," Laufer said.
Next year's payload probably will fly on the Orion rocket because Orbital Sciences' has discontinued its X-34 rocket, which originally was set to fly the payload.
But, he said the team might choose a different rocket.
"Everybody wants it to remain the same" rocket, he added. "But if we had a free opportunity ahead of Orion, you bet we'd grab it."
In the meantime, the UVIRSE team has had the opportunity to work on a real-life project while learning skills they will use in the future.
"You can't really get the experience anywhere else," said third-year Engineering student Sarah Armstrong. "We've had our moments, but I think things have finally come together"
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