 |
Sponsors Get Involved FAQ Team Mission Home |
 |
Newsletter #16 - October 5, 2007The 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). In this edition:
WATCH THIS SPACEONE GIANT LEAP FORWARDS (TOWARDS LAUNCH!) We had a lively spring, culminating in a major design review attended by experts from academia, NASA, and industry. The review was chaired by Brigadier General Peter Worden (USAF ret.), who is currently the Director of NASA Ames Research Center. This Preliminary Design Review (PDR) marked a major milestone on Mars Gravity's path to the launch pad. To move to the next stage of development and hardware fabrication, we needed the assembled experts to approve our design. For two days designs were scrutinized, documents were reviewed, snacks were munched. Ultimately, the team received a lot of great feedback - and two thumbs up! MARS GRAVITY IN THE BLOGOSPHERE This fall, Discovery Channel Canada is premiering two series that highlight current efforts to reach Mars. In keeping with this theme, they're also featuring a blog written by our very own Mars Gravity team on their homepage! Over the next few weeks, each team lead will be writing about their current work - entries by Science Director Erika Wagner, Payload lead Thaddeus Fulford-Jones and our new Systems lead Alex Cosmas are already up. For those with access to the actual Canadian TV channel, the miniseries "Race to Mars," narrated by William Shatner, imagines the first human mission in 2030, and the 6-part documentary series "Mars Rising" explores the science and technology that will make a future mission to Mars a reality. In the coming months, the Science Channel will be presenting both series for US viewers. Find out more - and check out our blog! - at: GIVING TO MARS GRAVITY The Mars Gravity program is always on the hunt for resources to support more student engagement, breakthrough science, and high-tech hardware development. For a donation as low as $35 dollars, you can place a photo, logo or message of your choice on the side of America's most ambitious student satellite. A sampling of current content includes aerospace firms, web hosting companies, declarations of love, family photos, and messages to the world. Add your own photo or message to our 'canvas in the sky', or recognize someone special with a gift certificate. All contributions are tax-deductible and support student efforts at MIT and Georgia Tech. http://YourNameIntoSpace.org Or you can email us at info@marsgravity.orgto discuss how you might help promote the program in your local area. Did You Know? Google has teamed up with the X PRIZE Foundation to offer a $20 million Grand Prize to the first private company to land a robotic rover on the Moon. After landing, the rover will have to complete several mission objectives, including: roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth. Google is also offering a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. EVENT HORIZONCONGRATS TO DR. WAGNER :-) On July 17th Mars Gravity Science Director Erika B. Wagner defended her PhD thesis to a packed room and rave reviews. Congratulations Dr. Wagner!! Erika has taken a staff position at MIT to continue her leadership of the Science Team, and of the entire Mars Gravity program. Ad astra! MARS GRAVITY WELCOMES MICROSAT SYSTEMS TO THE TEAM! This summer, MicroSat Systems Inc. (MSI) was selected as the Mars Gravity Biosatellite spacecraft bus provider. MicroSat's "Road Runner" bus design serves as the platform for TacSat-2 - a satellite developed in collaboration with the Air Force Research lab, and launched last December. The Mars Gravity Systems team will be working with MSI to modify the Road Runner bus design to meet Mars Gravity needs. Welcome, MSI! CONGRATULATIONS AND FAREWELLS In June, we said goodbye to a number of graduating MG team members. Elizabeth Deems and Dan Judnick, our super-star Systems and Bus co-leads for the past two years, both graduated with their master's degrees. Mark Baldesarra, a long-time Payload team engineer and mentor, finished his master's as well. And Mars Gravity team members Anna Massie, Jonathan Kamler, and Jesse Marsh all completed their bachelor's. A big Mars Gravity congrats to all! Be sure to come back and visit! THANKS TO THE SUMMER TEAM This newsletter certainly wouldn't be complete without recognizing the summer team for all their hard work - we've made some incredible progress over the past few months! Students from around the world came to MIT this summer to lend a hand. We'd like to thank Emily Grosse, Ankit Gordhandas, Joao Ricardo, Aaron Roth, Tash Bostanac, Frances Gonzalez, Arthur Huang, Ryan Mclinko, Megan Louise Colbath, Eshan Agrawal, Jonnalagadda Yellavenkatasunil, Doug Wajda, Hector Zenil-Chavez, Ben Marson, Aaron Harman, Kachina Gosselin, Morgan Scully, Karen Sun, and Andrea Weiss for making this a fun and productive summer! MARS GRAVITY REPRESENTS The Mars Gravity Payload team was well represented at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) this summer by team lead Thaddeus Fulford-Jones and team member Emily Grosse. Thaddeus presented two papers - one on thermal design strategies for a rotating partial gravity spacecraft, and the second on atmospheric reconditioning for long-term rodent life support. Dr. Wagner also represented the team at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Honolulu, Hawaii with data from her dissertation: "A Novel Partial Weight Suspension System Simulating Mars Gravity Leads to Reduced Bone Mass and Strength in Mice." E.B. Wagner; W.H. Tan; K.C. Gosselin; M.L. Bouxsein. 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Honolulu, HI. September, 2007. Look for the team this fall at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology and the National Conference of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Did You Know? After conserving power through months of Martian dust-storms, the Mars Exploration Rovers are back in action. Early in September 'Opportunity' entered Victoria Crater for the first time, moving carefully to avoid any unexpected slides down the crater slope. As Opportunity drives deeper into the crater, past layers of exposed rock, scientists hope to make new discoveries that will provide insight into the geology and history of Mars. TECH LIFESCIENCE This summer, the Science team completed the world's first studies of adaptation to Martian gravity levels. We know that astronauts in microgravity experience severe bone and muscle loss, but no one knows how mammals might adapt in an environment with reduced levels of gravity, such as the 0.38g found on Mars. This experiment gives us the first hint of what adaptation to Mars gravity might look like. After just three weeks of reduced weightbearing, mice showed significant losses of muscle volume and bone strength. These losses measured in the spongy bone of the femur, were only about 30% of the losses seen in previous microgravity models. This suggests positive things for future Mars explorers, once they get to the surface of the Red Planet! Of course, spaceflight is required to isolate the effects of gravity on physiolgical systems, so we still have to wait until the Mars Gravity Biosatellite flies to get our first genuine glimpse into what we can expect on the surface of Mars. PAYLOAD Over the summer the Payload team worked to construct an Earth-based model of the spacecraft, consisting of a sealed environmental chamber and a centrifuge to simulate the spacecraft's rotation. This 'mouse centrifuge' will spin at the same rate as the satellite itself and should provide insights into the operation of the atmospheric life support systems and novel automated rodent habitats. The centrifuge is housed within a custom-built environmental chamber - a non-breathable cube-shaped plastic tent. Once the portal door is closed, no air will move into or out of the environmental chamber, and the team can test their atmospheric revitalization systems. This term the team will be working on getting the model up and running! SYSTEMS With the start of the new school year, Mars Gravity welcomes Alex Cosmas as the new Systems Team Lead! (See a LI'L BIT OF SOL below for an interview.) Alex has assembled a crack Systems team, including students from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Stevens Institute of Technology and Montclair State University, as well as MIT and Georgia Tech. After a productive Preliminary Design Review this spring, the Systems team continues to detail interface controls as well as working to increase the fidelity of the Mars Gravity Biosatellite structural models and finite element analyses. The team is also working the with new Bus contractor, MicroSat Systems, Inc. to update the Bus design, manage requirements and define interfaces to other Mars Gravity subcomponents. Systems team members from the U.S. Air Force Academy will be detailing MGB launch, on-orbit and recovery operations. Team members from the Stevens Institute of Technology and Montclair State University are building a 6-DOF simulation to validate the control system. Looking towards the Critical Design Review, the team is also generating a system-wide Test Plan, Risk Management Plan and Software Development Plan. BUS MicroSat Systems Inc. is working with our Systems team towards a Bus Delta PDR this winter. In preparation for the review, MSI's Road Runner bus design will be modified to meet Mars Gravity needs. As a first step, MSI is developing design tools and conducting trades analysis. ENTRY DESCENT AND LANDING The Space Systems Design Lab (SSDL) at Georgia Tech is responsible for the design of the Entry, Descent, and Landing system and recovery operations. The EDL team is designing the entry vehicle, entry trajectory, thermal protection system (TPS), aerodynamic decelerators, and recovery operations. With the new term, the team has expanded and now includes 5 undergraduates and 1 graduate student. Following the program-level review in June 2007, the team is focusing efforts this fall on:
Currently, the team is planning on an EDL system review in early Spring 2008. Did You Know? Japan recently launched a lunar surveyor to study the moon's surface, searching for insight into the history and origin of the moon. The main orbiter, SELENE (the Selenological and Engineering Explorer), carries two smaller satellites on board - which will be released in lunar orbit to help SELENE study the weak gravity field on the far side of the moon. SELENE carries an array of instruments, including a high-definition camera to film the Earth rising over the Moon's horizon. China, India, and the United States all have plans to launch lunar orbiters in the near future. LI'L BIT OF SOLA MINUTE WITH ALEX COSMAS Age: 25 Education (prior and current):
What's your role on the Mars Gravity team? Systems Team Lead. What did you do before you joined Mars Gravity? Before coming to MIT, I spent two years in Lockheed Martin's Engineering Leadership Development Program (ELDP). My rotations included modeling and simulation of the Aegis SPY phased array radar, Littoral Combat Ship program management, and systems engineering for the Sea-Based PAC-3 MSE missile. What's the most important thing you've gotten out of Mars Gravity so far? The development of students is the most encouraging part of the program. Students are learning things that most only hear about after a few years in industry. Everyone who touches this program is better prepared for life after academia than when they came into it. What are you most looking forward to this term? The end of it. I'm still in the thick of classes so I'm looking forward to nailing that coffin shut. What would your dream job be? NHL Commissioner What do you like to do with your free time? Skiing, sailing, traveling with my fiancé. I'm an avid hockey fan, so attending any Bruins game I can afford... What's your favorite band? Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam of yore, Live Favorite book? Eisenhower, Soldier and President (by Stephen Ambrose) Favorite quote? It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -Aristotle
|
| Email: info@marsgravity.org | Tel: 617 324 6793 | Mars Gravity Program Office: MIT Room 37-344 | 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 |