{"id":169002,"date":"2022-11-15T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T18:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=169002"},"modified":"2022-11-16T10:18:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T20:18:02","slug":"tech-future-artemis-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/11\/15\/tech-future-artemis-missions\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> develops technology for future Artemis missions to Moon, Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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NASA<\/abbr>\u2019s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, November 16, 2022. (Photo credit: NASA<\/abbr>\/Bill Ingalls)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA<\/abbr>\u2019s next launch attempt for the Artemis I mission is on November 16 at 1:04 a.m. EST<\/abbr> (November 15, 8:04 p.m. HST<\/abbr>), and University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa researchers have created new technology to assist the Artemis project.<\/p>\n

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CubeSat kit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa researchers from the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute of Geophysics and Planetology<\/a> (HIGP<\/abbr>) developed “foundation enablers” which are advancing the project\u2019s satellite infrastructure for a prolonged presence on the Moon. Satellites are important communication devices to relay information from space to Earth. While the technology isn\u2019t being used for the current Artemis I mission, NASA<\/abbr> has funded the UH<\/abbr> research to develop the technology for use in future missions, while providing a training ground for budding middle school, high school and university student scientists.<\/p>\n

Artemis I is an uncrewed mission to launch a rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth to thoroughly test its system before future flights with astronauts. Artemis is part of the next era of human exploration to a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars.<\/p>\n

“The Artemis program symbolizes a rebirth of America\u2019s space program, drawing inspiration from the Apollo program, which was arguably the height of the United States\u2019 crewed space program,” said Frances Zhu<\/strong>, HIGP<\/abbr> assistant professor. “NASA<\/abbr> is investing in technologies, but also the next generation of space scientists and engineers, which they call the Artemis generation. The NASA<\/abbr> grant we received to build these satellites has allowed UH<\/abbr> to take a lead role in developing aerospace education tools, bolstering UH<\/abbr>\u2019s efforts in establishing an aerospace engineering program.”<\/p>\n

Artemis CubeSat project<\/h2>\n

Related: UH<\/abbr> awarded $500K to develop small-satellite educational kits, May 2020<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa was one of six universities awarded space grants from NASA<\/abbr> in 2020 as part of its Artemis Student Challenge program. Through the $750,000 grant, Zhu and her team developed low-cost CubeSat kits, which usually cost around $50,000–500,000, for around $5,000 per kit. The 1U kit includes onboard computing, communication components, dynamic sensors, an infrared camera and an electrical power system, as well as comprehensive, online educational materials on spacecraft mission design.<\/p>\n

Through an additional $450,000 Governor’s Emergency Education Relief grant<\/a> from Gov<\/abbr>. David Ige in 2021, the team was also able to expand its educational materials, content and modifications to the kit for Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> public, private and charter school students in grades 6–12. The kits will focus on educating and training the “Artemis generation,” the workforce that will design, build, fly and operate spacecraft that are a part of the Artemis program. The small satellites themselves can be launched around Earth or the Moon to support the Artemis missions.<\/p>\n

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Frances Zhu in the Astrofein Attitude Control Testbed used to test satellite control systems.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA<\/abbr>\u2019s chief economist hopes that every state will launch a small satellite and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> is supporting that mission by spearheading the design, fabrication and curriculum of small satellite kits. Once student teams have a kit in their classroom, they can conceptualize a space mission, design the satellite payload and body, and modify the kit to build that spacecraft.<\/p>\n

“Building a spacecraft at the undergraduate level is a rare opportunity, which gives participating students a headstart in real-world space applications that make them more competitive in the economic market and benefits the technological advancement of the space industry,” Zhu said. “Although student satellites are unlikely to function the first time, the experience of designing, building and potentially flying satellites is an immensely educational and fun activity that leads to grander space missions.”<\/p>\n

So far, the team has been able to distribute three CubeSat kits to Windward Community College<\/a>, Oklahoma State University and Cal Poly Pomona. The team plans to deliver 22 kits to colleges on every major Hawaiian island and to six other states by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

For more information about the Artemis CubeSat project, visit the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Space Flight Laboratory website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

—By Marc Arakaki<\/em><\/p>\n

\"people
UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa’s Artemis team, comprised of undergraduate students, staff and faculty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artemis is part of the next era of human exploration to a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[173,170,406,1466,1467,1363,92,174,313,9],"class_list":["post-169002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-geophysics","tag-hawaii-institute-of-geophysics-and-planetology","tag-hawaii-space-flight-laboratory","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-space","tag-stem","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169002"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169188,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169002\/revisions\/169188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}