Small Spacecraft Community of Practice
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Big Red Sat-1: Nebraska’s First CubeSat Experience and Lessons Learned for our Middle School to Graduate School Team
Speakers: Walker Arce and Karen Stelling, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
10:00AM-11:00AM Pacific Daylight Time
Click here to download the presentation slides.
Abstract: The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) initiated a CubeSat program in fall of 2020 which included Middle and High school students, as well as undergraduate and graduate students. The team selected a perovskite solar cell (PSC) payload and went through a steep learning process to create their payload and successfully complete their CSLI mission in four years. PSCs are an emerging power generation technology that not only promises higher efficiency and lower weight but also the potential to be manufactured on the lunar surface for NASA’s Artemis program. The continued real-world testing of these devices in-situ, such as in low earth orbit (LEO), aims to improve their technology readiness level and identify candidate designs that can survive in harsh space environments. For our mission, our team designed custom characterization equipment that fit into a 1U CubeSat frame, as well as electrical circuitry to multiplex the 18 onboard PSCs into the measurement equipment, saving volume, cost, and power. The process from design to integration to launch required overcoming multiple roadblocks. Our four-year project yielded Big Red Sat-1, which launched on Cargo Resupply Mission 30 on 21 March 2024 and was deployed from the International Space Station on 18 April 2024. BRS-1 operated in orbit for 105 days before deorbiting and we are currently processing the data received.
Bios: Walker Arce received his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in 2020 and his master’s degree in electrical engineering from UNL in 2023. Since August 2022, he has worked with the Big Red Sat (BRS) team on the design and launch of Big Red Sat-1, including collection and analysis of data received from orbit. He continues to volunteer his time to the UNL Aerospace Club to maintain the momentum of the Big Red Sat team.
Karen Stelling led formation of, and guided to completion, the BRS team of undergraduate mentors and middle and high school students selected for the first Nebraska CSLI project. Karen advises the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Aerospace Club (teams include: Aerospace Experimental Payloads (Big Red Satellite (BRS) is part of AXP); NASA Lunabotics; Rocketry; Rocket Propulsion Group (RPG); Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV); AIAA Design-Build-Fly (DBF); Women in Aerospace (WIA); and a team for NASA Nationwide Eclipse Balloon Project (NEBP) with MCC and UNO). Karen is an engineering professor at UNL focusing on professionalism, ethics, interpersonal, leadership, and project management skills to develop students into Complete Engineers®. Prior to UNL Karen was at Burns & McDonnell Consulting Engineers. Her BSME degree is from UNL, and her MBA is from UMKC.
S3VI encourages the community to submit questions before the webinar to enable more directed responses. Please send questions to craig.d.burkhard@nasa.gov.
