Newsletter #13 - October 13, 2006

The Mars Gravity Biosatellite will provide the first data on the adaptation of the mammalian body to the partial gravity of 0.38g found on the surface of Mars. It will help answer one of the critical outstanding questions in the planning of future human expeditions to the Red Planet. Mars Gravity is led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).

Hello Mars Gravity fans! We've got plenty of news for you, so read on for a whirlwind tour of what we've been up to lately - and please stay tuned for a big announcement in our next installment! We've got a little surprise up our sleeve...

In this edition:

	1.   WATCH THIS SPACE - Mars Gravity Notices
	2.   EVENT HORIZON - News and Views on Events
	3.   TECH LIFE - Science and Engineering Updates
	4.   LI'L BIT OF SOL - Team Member News

WATCH THIS SPACE

THANKS TO THE SUMMER TEAM

Over the past few months we've been up to our ears in hardware prototypes, computer models, research, conferences and designs. We want to say thanks to our 2006 summer team for all their hard work! We had an amazing group of students join us at MIT, and an equally amazing group of continuing Mars Grav team members hung around to give us a hand, and to join us in the occasional game of whiffle ball. So thanks to Erika Wagner, Elizabeth Deems, Thaddeus Fulford-Jones, Dan Judnick, Rosie Combs-Bachmann, Emily Grosse, Erin Koksal, Ming Leong, Nathan Davis, Zuoyu Tao, Jerry Richard, Daniel Spector, Anastasia Baran, Nicholas Granzella, Aaron Roth, Victoria Chang, Daniel Reza Jou, Yunir Gataullin, George Kittos, Troy Coverstone, Ryan McLinko, Diego A Melani Barreiro, Eric Khatchadourian, Julia Zimmerman, and Christa Humbert for making this a fun and productive summer!

...AND WELCOME TO NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS THIS FALL!

We have a fantastic team of 45 students this term, and we're looking forward to doing some amazing things. So, watch this space!

GIVING TO MARS GRAVITY

Mars Gravity relies on both public and private support. Hundreds of students and professional advisors from across the globe have helped bring this program to fruition, and your support can help it take flight. If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, we invite you to visit our donations page at: ttp://www.yournameintospace.org.

Checks payable to Mars Gravity can be mailed to the address below:

Mars Gravity Program Office
MIT Room 37-344
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
USA

Or you can email us at info@marsgravity.org to discuss how you might help promote the program in your local area.

Did You Know?

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently imaged Exploration Rover "Opportunity" perched at the edge of Victoria Crater, near the Red Planet's equator. Opportunity's scientists are currently scouting for a safe way to allow the rover to roll down into the crater... and climb back out when it has completed its geological explorations!

EVENT HORIZON

A VISIT TO BEANTOWN

Our new teammates at Georgia Tech recently stopped in for a visit at MIT to prepare for their work this term. Wisely, they arrived ahead of snow season. This fall, Ashley Korzun, Charity Lewis, Kavya Kamal, and Christine Hartzell will be working at Georgia Tech to evaluate and build on the current EDL system design. The MIT team leaders look forward to returning their visit in November for a systems engineering review and work session.

ON THE BIG SCREEN

The team has been fortunate enough to present at a couple of recent conferences, receiving good feedback at both. Payload Lead, Thaddeus Fulford-Jones, and Science Director, Erika Wagner, each gave a talk at the Mars Society Convention in Washington this August. Thaddeus then flew halfway around the globe to speak at the UK Space Medicine Conference. The two managers are also pleased to have a new publication to their credit:

Wagner EB, Fulford-Jones TRF. Sensorimotor investigations for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite: a rotating spacecraft for partial gravity research. Brain Research. 2006 May 26;1091(1):75-8.

MARS GRAVITY GOES TO SCHOOL

Over the last few months, the Mars Gravity team in Boston has held a number of educational outreach events, including assisting the MIT Mars Society, SEDS, and the Rocket Team in running the university's annual Boy Scout Merit Badge workshop. We've also developed a relationship with the John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science (JDOB), engaging students on several occasions, including JDOB Engineering Week, and a LEGO Rover workshop in conjunction with MIT S.T.O.M.P. (Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program). In another Rover related activity, Mars Gravity students held a Cub Scout workshop on Mars Rovers, complete with an egg-drop Mars landing! Current outreach excitement focuses on emerging collaboration with the Perkins School for the Blind, as we try to help their science teachers develop novel materials for teaching about engineering design.

Did You Know?

Pluto, one of the largest objects in the Kuiper Belt, was considered the Solar System's ninth planet until earlier this year. At a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, it was reclassified as a "dwarf planet," joining two others - Ceres and Eris - which are also found at the edges of the asteroid belt.

TECH LIFE

PAYLOAD

The Payload team has been busily occupied with all things life-support related. We've been refining the designs for the thermal system, the atmospherics system and the structural mockup. The team has also been working closely with industrial partner Payload Systems Inc. on final revisions to the habitat design, with the goal of presenting two flight qualified units to NASA. We're approaching a flight-ready habitat prototype, and will be presenting the results of our 5 week trial at the ASGSB conference in Arlington, Virginia next month. We're also working to make the Payload smart! The electronics team is currently concentrating on microcontroller design, to ensure that the Payload computer will be able to precisely regulate and maintain the habitat environment.

BUS

The Bus team, now at MIT, is responsible for the control of all the satellite functions that will keep our satellite powered, in the correct orbit, and in contact with all of us on the ground! We've been making great strides in revising and updating the designs in a number of areas, including: Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC), Thermal, Propulsion, Structures, Power, Communications, and ADCS (Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem). Much of the summer work revolved around trade studies relating to comparative Bus design choices. Students also worked to update the designs from University of Washington - where the original Bus Team was located.

SCIENCE

The Science team is making great progress with development of a novel partial weight bearing model, which simulates reduced gravity loads. Results from the partial weight experiments will provide critical data on musculoskeletal adaptation for comparison to in-flight results. We are pleased to be collaborating with the Beth Israel Deaconess Orthopedic Biomechanics Lab, and local Boston company, Mouse Specifics, Inc. on this effort. The Science Operations team continues to refine pre- and post-flight timelines and to evaluate ground support equipment. (They also continue to lobby for a business trip to scout out the landing site in Woomera, Australia!)

SYSTEMS

The Systems team has been diligently documenting the satellite and the program from top to bottom, with an eye towards a full PDR (Preliminary Design Review) in the coming months. In addition to verifying interfaces between Payload, Bus and EDL, updating CAD models, implementing configuration control and coordinating with Georgia Tech, the team has also set-up a brand new CVS cache to help us track these critical documents.

ENTRY DESCENT AND LANDING

Our Georgia Tech team spent a productive summer finalizing the capsule shape, refining calculations for the landing ellipse and entry trajectories, and evaluating crushables as a potential EDLS component. This fall, the design will continue to be refined as the team updates models and hardware designs to match current system requirements and interfaces.

Did You Know?

Last month, Iranian-American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari took to the skies in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, spending a week and a half on orbit as the world's first female private space explorer. Her trip included a stay on the International Space Station with the crew of Expeditions 13 and 14. Ansari and her family underwrote the Ansari X Prize, which propelled Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne into suborbital flight in 2004.

LI'L BIT OF SOL

A MINUTE WITH: ELIZABETH "BIFF" DEEMS

Age: 23

Education (prior and/or current): Bachelor's of Science in Aerospace Engineering, from Georgia Tech. Current: Master's of Science from MIT

What exactly do you do in the Mars Gravity program? I am the team lead for the Bus Design Team and the Systems Engineering team. I manage about seventeen students on their engineering and design work for systems such as propulsion, attitude control, communications, and operations.

How long have you been involved in Mars Gravity? I started in the fall of 2005, so one year.

What's the most important thing you've gotten out of Mars Gravity so far? A greater appreciation for how multi-faceted a satellite design team is. It has been a great learning experience to deal with the interaction of the systems at a higher level while also working with specific students on engineering problems.

What do you want to do with your life after Mars Gravity? To be specific: I would like to be a Project Systems Engineer for an interplanetary spacecraft mission. To be general: I want to be involved in an exciting and scientifically-interesting aerospace project.

Assuming you have free time outside of Mars Gravity, what do you do with it? I really enjoy dancing and teaching rueda, which is a type of salsa dance much like American square dancing. You stand in a circle with your partner, and one person calls moves that you perform with your partner, and you keep switching partners throughout the song. I began dancing in the fall, and I now teach at a club on Wednesday nights.

What was your favorite class in college/high school? Space Systems Design. Despite the heavy workload, it was fun because we got to do an entire spacecraft design by ourselves.

What is your favorite band? Marc Broussard! He's a relatively unknown singer from New Orleans, but his mixture of rock, blues, and country is awesome. Favorite movie and/or TV show? I really don't watch much TV or many movies, but I'll say "Princess Bride" and "Grey's Anatomy."

If you've read "Harry Potter," which character would you be and why? Hermione, because I've always been a nerd and proud of it!

TRICK OR TREAT!

...So that's it for this edition. But remember to be on the lookout for some early Halloween treats from your favorite student satellite project!

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