Inspired into being in 1979 by the late astronaut, Dr. Ronald McNair, the primary goal of this student centered program is to perform two experiments, Arthopod Development Study and Crystal Growth Study. Since 1979, 78 different students representing 12 majors have participated in every phase of development of the payload -- from coming up with the original ideas to final fabrication and testing. Students have also been involved in many extra activities such as presenting their results at annual meetings and hosting tours of our lab for local schools. The program has received extensive outside support in the form of funds, technical assistance and donated parts. The payload, made primarily out of aluminum, consists of a central column structure, a battery box, a crystal growth box, an arthropod development box, four control circuit boxes, and a thermograph box. The battery box contains 24, Eveready 6V, Alkaline batteries. The thermograph box contains 3 Ryan TempMentors. Fabrication of the payload is essentially complete and a complete testing program has been initiated

Ahrens, S. T.

Hooker, F. D.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

N8,-203,8
THE NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM
A STATUS REPORT 1979 - 1986
F.D. IIooker
System Engineer
Graduate Student, Electrical Engineering
S.T. Ahrens
Program Director
Associate Professor, Physics
Student Space Shuttle Program
N.C. A&T State University
Greensboro, North Carolina 27411
(919) 272-2824
ABSTRACT
Inspired into being in 1979 by the late astronaut, Dr. Ronald McNair, the
primary goal of this student centered program is to perform two experiments,
Arthropod Development Study and Crystal Growth Study. Since 1979 , 78 different
students representing 12 majors have participated in every phase of development
of the payload -- from coming up with the original ideas to final fabrication
and testing. Students have also been involved in many extra activites such as
presenting their results at annual meetings and hosting tours of our lab for
local schools. The program has received extensive outside support in the form
of funds, technical assistance and donated parts. The payload, made primarily
out of aluminum, consists of a central column structure, a battery box, a
crystal growth box, an arthropod development box, four control circuit boxes,
and a thermograph box. The battery box contains 24, Eveready 6V, Alkaline
batteries. The thermograph box contains 3 Ryan TempMentors. Fabrication of the
payload is essentially complete and a complete testing program has been
initiated.
BACKGROUND
The goal of the A&T Student Space Shuttle Program is to perform two student
experiments using a space shuttle flight sometime soon after the system again
becomes operational.
In addition, we have a number of secondary goals which we feel are very
important. They are: to enchance the classroom experience by putting students
in a real world project; to develop in students a strong sense of profes-
sionalism about their work; to have students interface with the high technology
of the space shuttle; and finally, to motivate students to dream big and then go
after that dream.
The two experiments involved are entitled Cry_tal Growth and Arthropod
Development. The objective of the Crystal Growth experiment is to determine the
effect of weightlessness on the shape and number of microscopic inclusions in
Ill
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19870010885 2020-03-20T11:19:40+00:00Z
crystals of Rochelle Salt grown from aqueous solution. The objective of the
Arthropod Development Experiment is to determine the effects of weightlessness
and cosmic radiation on the mating and development of the Milkweed Bug.
Our program's roots are tied to astronaut Dr. Ronald McNair, a member of
the 51-L Crew who tragically died aboard Challenger last January 28th. Dr.
McNair, an alumnus of our university, was selected back in 1978 as one of the
original 35 space shuttle astronauts. His selection inspired us to also get
involved with the space shuttle.
In May of 1979, the University made the $500.00 deposit required for
involvement in the GAS program. This marked the official beginning of the A&T
Student Space Shuttle Program.
To get the program going, a campus-wide contest was initiated inviting
students to develop and submit ideas for experiments. The contest ran an entire
semester and prize monies totaling $2,500 were donated by two corporations - TRW
and Raytheon. A total of 20 papers were received from the students and the top
three were chosen as winners by a faculty review committee.
Since the contest, 78 different students, representing 12 different majors,
have participated in the program in a variety of overlapping activities. Most
of the activities occured in our own Student Space Shuttle Laboratory.
The first activity following the contest was to conduct an extensive
literature search in order to get ourselves up to date and to confirm that the
three winning ideas had merit. In addition the winning ideas were also
researched in the laboratory to confirm that they were feasible within the GAS
constraints. The end result of this research was that one of the winning ideas
was dropped with much reluctance and the other two slightly modified, giving the
two experiments which were discussed earlier.
The next major step was to model each payload component out of balsa wood.
We made many trips to the local hobby store. Once we had a working balsa wood
model for a given part of the payload finalized, detailed drawings of that part
were made. Next it was to the shop. Whenever feasible, we had students do the
shop work supervised by professional machinists.
All electrical design, building and testing has been done by the students.
We also tried to use computers whenever it was feasible and made sense. Some of
our drawings have been done on a CAD system. The computer has also been used
extensively by us as a word processor for doing reports and preparing talks such
as this one.
Our typical organization over the years has been to divide the 20 to 25
students participating each year into 5 teams, each team having a faculty
advisor. These teams then meet weekly to review the previous week's work and
set up objectives for the coming week. Once a month all teams meet to compare
progress and mutual problems.
At the end of each school year we have held an Annual Meeting to summarize
the year's accomplishments. Typically i0 to 15 students make 5 minute
112
presentations, all view graph based and well planned and rehearsed. The
audience includes other students, faculty, administrators, including the
Chancellor of the University, corporate and NASA sponsors, and when his schedule
permitted, our astronaut Dr. Ron McNair. Following each Annual Meeting the
presentations are expanded in detail and assembled into Annual Reports.
All work and no play isn't recommended, so each year our program also
sponsors a campus-wide contest involving model space shuttles. The models
entered are first put on display and judged for accuracy, detail and neatness.
Next the models are taken outside and flown. The best combined score for
display and flight wins.
A high point in the program was a bus trip in early 1984 to Kennedy Space
Center for Dr. McNairs's first flight. During the first day we toured the
entire center and on the next day we witnessed the successful launch of flight
41-B.
None of the activities discussed so far would have been possible without
extensive outside support. Outside support has come in three forms: financial,
technical and parts.
Financial support through the years has come from two corporations and
NASA-Ames. The corporations involved are Raytheon, TRW - Energy and Defense
Sector, Digital Equipment, RCA, Owens-Illinois and General Electric. Private
funding, which is what started the program, now totals approximately $120,000.
NASA-Ames' funding which started 4 years ago is through a Joint Research
Interchange and now totals approximately $200,000. Of this $320,000 total,
roughly 25% has gone as stipends to the students participating in the program,
25% for release time for the program's director and other faculty who have
served as faculty advisors, 25% for equipment and supplies and 25% for
university overhead.
Technical support has come from several sources. Representatives from TRW
and NASA-Ames have made many vists to our campus to interact with the students
in the program. Additional technical support has come from AT&T Bell
Laboratories through one of their engineers who is on loan to the university as
a visiting professor of electrical engineering and is also serving as a faculty
advisor to the program.
Finally there is the area of parts support. Three additional corporations
have participated in this way: Amp; Union Carbide; and NRG-Barriers. Amp
donated all of the rather expensive, mill-spec connectors which we are using.
Union Carbide donated 240 Eveready Energizer, No. 528 lantern batteries to meet
all of our needs for both testing and flight. NRG-Barriers donated the
poyurethane insulation which we used in several parts of our payload.
PAYLOAD
The payload (Fig i) consists of a support structure, a battery box, a
crystal growth box, an arthropod development box, 4 control circuit boxes and a
thermograph box.
113
The support structure (Fig 2) consists of two circulam plates bolted to a
central column. The top plate of our support structure is bolted to the top
plate of the GAS cannister. Bumpers required by NASA are attached to the bottom
plate to prevent the suspended support structure from hitting and damaging the
inside wall of the cannister.
The battery box (Fig 3) contains 24, 6V Eveready Energizer Alkaline
Batteries. Twenty of the batteries are designated as heater batteries, and are
dedicated to keeping the payload warm during the entire flight. The other 4
batteries are designated control batteries and are totally dedicated to running
the control electronics.
The crystal growth box (Fig 4) will be used to grow a single crystal of
Rochelle Salt. While still on earth a supersaturated Rochelle Salt solution is
placed in the growth chamber. A seed crystal of Rochelle Salt is placed on the
end of a narrow shaft, retracted and then stored behind a rupturable diaphragm
in the cover. The cover is then closed down over the growth chamber. The
experiment is activated shortly after launch at around 60,000 ft.by the NASA
provided baroswitch. First the solution is heated and stirred to dissolve all
the granules of Rochelle Salt. Following this an automatic controlled cooling
process is initiated. After two days of cooling the seed crystal is inserted
into the solution which has become supersaturated in the meantime due to
cooling. After two more days the growth process is automatically stopped. This
is accomplished by turning off the heat, retracting the cover and the grown
crystal, and absorbing the left-over solution with silica gel dessicant. The
recovered space grown crystal will then be compared with earth grown control
crystals.
The arthropod development box (Fig 5) will be used to yield baby Milkweed
bugs. While still on earth, males and females will be put into separate
compartments, males in the top one, females in the middle one. The bottom
compartment is left empty and will later serve as the nursery. In addition a
total diet paste is put into each of the three compartments. The compartments
are covered and the box is sealed shut and covered with insulation. The heaters
and lights for this experiment are also activated by the baroswitch.
Approximately 1/2 hr. after achieving orbit, the door is retracted uncovering an
opening between the male and female compartments and uncovering the nest between
the female compartment and the nursery. Hopefuly there will then be mating and
1-2 days later the females will be laying eggs in the specially prepared nest.
After 4 days the door will be closed by astronaut command, thus preventing any
further egg laying in the nest. As the eggs in the nest develop and hatch out,
the babies unable to crawl out through the top of the nest because of the closed
door above, will crawl out through the bottom of the nest into the nursery
below. The babies later recovered from the nursery will be compared to
earth-born and raised, control, Milkweed bugs.
Four control circuit boxes (Fig 6) contain all the electronics to run the
payload. Two boxes are dedicated to the crystal growth experiment. A third box
is dedicated to the arthropod development experiment and the last box is used
for overall system control and interfacing with the orbiter.
114
The thermograph box (Fig 7) will contain 3 Ryan TempMentor thermographs. 
Each thermograph is a totally self-contained unit. 
activated when the payload is handed over to NASA personnel at KSC. Thereafter, 
until we get the payload back approximately two months later, each thermograph 
will measure every 20 minutes and store in its own memory for later readout, the 
temperature of a given payload location. 
monitored are: the battery box, the growth chamber of the crystal growth box and 
the arthropod development box. 
Each thermograph will be 
The three locations which will be 
ACKNOkaEDGEMENTS 
Over the years many, many individuals have contributed much time and effort 
to the development of this program. 
however, fitting to list those students and faculty who carried the program 
forward last year: ** Students -- Electrical Engineering: Kelvin Brooks, 
Jonathan Hampton, Brian Burnette, Chris Webley -- Flechanical Engineering: Nate 
Hines, Karen Sidbury, Jerry Lang -- Chemistry: Saundra Flowers, Toni Lamberth -- 
Biology: Mark Melton; 
-- Chemistry: Dr. Vallie Guthrie -- Biology: D r .  Jerry Bennett. A special 
thanks to Mr. Crigler for his extra help in getting this talk prepared. 
They are to numerous to list here. It is 
** Faculty -- Electrical Engineering: Mr. Wayne Crigler 
,. c 
115 
Figure 2. Support Structure 
Figure 3. Battery Box 
ORiGlNAL PAGE is 
116 OF POOR Qum 
ORIGINAL PAGE IS 
OF F R  QUALnV 
Figure 4 .  Crystal Growth Box 
Figure 5. Arthropod Development Box 
117 . -* 
H_ . .4 ._ •
Figure 6. Control Circuit Boxes
Figure 7. Thermograph Box
118
ORIGINAL PAGE I;3
POOR QUALITY


The North Carolina A and T State University Student Space Shuttle Program

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server