An Electrically Actuated Pin-Puller for Space Application using Nickel- Titanium Memory Alloy

The Local Ionospheric Measurements Satellite (LionSat) is an ionospheric investigation nanosatellite that is being developed by an interdisciplinary team of students at The Pennsylvania State University. As part of its primary science mission, the satellite will be used to examine the plasma environment surrounding it via a set of plasma probes. These probes extend linearly on booms from the midsection of the satellite and must remain in a stowed, locked position during launch. This paper discusses the design and fabrication of an electrically actuated pin-puller used to secure the booms in the spacecraft that makes use of Nickel–Titanium (NiTi) memory alloy. The pin-puller design should be of particular interest to other low-cost small satellites

Design of the Local Ionospheric Measurements Satellite

The Local Ionospheric Measurements Satellite (LionSat) is an ionospheric investigation nanosatellite that is being developed by an interdisciplinary team of students at The Pennsylvania State University. The scientific goal is to study the local ambient and perturbed plasma environments surrounding the satellite as well as ram and wake effects as it traverses through its orbit. This project engages students from various engineering and non-technical backgrounds in the design, fabrication, testing, and flight phases. LionSat will employ a combination of new technologies, such as the Hybrid Plasma Probe and a Miniature Radio Frequency Ion Thruster, both currently under development. LionSat will collect data in a variety of geophysically interesting locations in low Earth orbit and correlate them to the ram/wake measurements

Implementation of a Modern Internet Protocol-Based Communications System and Error Detection and Correction System for Commercial Memory within a Radiation Hardened FPGA for a Low-Earth-Orbit Satellite

There is a growing interest in the application of common terrestrial communications protocols, such as the Internet Protocol (IP), to spacecraft systems. There is also a desire to increase computing power through the use of commercial products with unknown or limited radiation survivability. Such interests are driven by the need to reduce the high costs of space technology while both standardizing and increasing capability. As part of the research process for Penn State’s Local Ionospheric Measurements Satellite (LionSat), a communications encoder was developed that implements IP and bi-phase L (BPL) encoding measures along with a data synchronizer to allow operation of a synchronous downlink using asynchronous data from the flight computer. Also developed was an error-detection-and-correction scheme to protect commercial high-speed SDRAM from multiple independent bit errors for a 32-bit Linux system. Both of these designs were created for implementation in a RadHard Aeroflex Eclipse FPGA and require a combined total of less than 45% of available logic cells. The resulting system provides a compact radiation-tolerant solution for the communication and memory assurance needs of a modern satellite flight computer