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Channel Response to Flow Augmentation: Diamond Fork River, UT
Get PDFA river’s physical features and channel dimensions are determined by the water and sediment supplied to it. The Diamond Fork River, located in central Utah—received large trans-basin diversion flows from 1915-2003, providing an exceptional opportunity to explore the response of a river to a large increase in flow.
Our project goals were to describe 1) channel response to this large and long artificial flow augmentation and 2) how the channel recovered after the removal of the diversion flows. The objective of this thesis is to document the channel condition throughout the 20th century to present day as a basis for describing the impact of flow augmentation on channel change and for guiding future river management.
This work builds on the findings of (Jones, 2018) by adding resolution to the 20th century changes with additional historic air photos. We also add information on historic river channel elevation by studying locations that the river abandoned in the 20th century. We find the extent and nature of channel adjustment depends on whether the valley is narrow or wide. Floods larger than the diversion flows produced channel change followed by a recovery period that allowed the channel to narrow. After diversion flows were removed from the river in 2004, the river channel continues to narrow, form meander bends, and riverbank vegetation has begun to hold the channel in place
Utah Hydroponic Solutions
Get PDFThe Utah Hydroponic solutions for monocots and dicots have been developed and refined using mass balance principles coupled with tissue analysis from studies in 25-cm deep, continuously aerated, liquid hydroponics where there is no absorption or desorption with media.
These solutions provide guidelines for irrigation of soilless substrates, but adjustments may need to be made to account for the significant cation exchange capacity and thus nutrient absorption and desorption with the substrates.
These recipes were developed for greenhouse conditions with ambient CO2 and about 40% humidity. This results in a water use efficiency of about 3 grams per Liter. In high CO2 and higher humidity environments, the water use efficiency can be 6 grams per Liter, so the nutrient concentration must be approximately doubled
Design and Development of 2U SPIRONE CubeSat for Verification of Navigation Signal Generator in LEO Environment and Marine Plastic Observation
Get PDFThis study aims to undertake the development of the SPIRONE Cube-satellite. The technical mission involves the development and validation of an S-band navigation signal generator for Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and the scientific mission is to observe marine plastics using Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) and Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) cameras. Traditional satellite navigation systems operate at medium Earth orbits around 20,000 km, where signals can weaken and become vulnerable to interference, impacting air navigation, shipping, and autonomous vehicles, potentially causing severe accidents. To address this, the project aims to explore LEO-based navigation by operating CubeSats in LEO to collect experimental data and conduct related research. Additionally, the CubeSat is equipped with LWIR and SWIR cameras to detect and help remove plastics in specific ocean areas. The SPIRONE CubeSat weighs approximately 2.48 kg [TBD] with a one-year mission duration, operating in a sun-synchronous orbit at 600km altitude. The onboard computer (OBC) uses FreeRTOS, and the satellite\u27s hardware and subsystems are integrated for synchronized missions with the ground station. Simulation-based structural analysis, including random vibration and modal analysis, as well as shock tests, were conducted. In addition, simulation-based thermal analysis was conducted to assess the feasibility of mission execution in the target orbit. Power production was estimated considering the Noon-Midnight Orbit, ensuring sufficient margin. The ground station will be developed and utilized in-house, and there is also a plan to utilize the ground station of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Ham Radio Deluxe will be used for satellite control software, and in-house development is underway for satellite communication software. Additionally, through link budget analysis, it has been confirmed that there is sufficient margin. The SPIRONE CubeSat project conducted the Critical Design Review (CDR) in October 2023 and confirmed the design through the delta CDR in March 2024. Ultimately, it will be loaded onto the Nuri Rocket in 2025, and its mission execution and verification will be carried out in the LEO environment
MiniCOR: Miniature Coronagraph for Heliophysics Research
Get PDFCoronagraphs are the only instruments that can capture the development of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) throughout the near-Sun space. Thus, they provide critical information for the physics of CME evolution and propagation and consequently for space weather forecasting. It makes strategic sense to lower the technological and logistical barriers for maintaining space-based coronagraphic observations. MiniCOR is an ambitious coronagraph design to address these challenges. The technical goal of MiniCOR is to demonstrate that a low-cost miniaturized 3U coronagraph, can return data with higher cadence and equal or better sensitivity than currently operating full-size coronagraphs. MiniCOR is a funded project under NASA HPD H-FORT program. It began development in 2024 for a launch in Sun-Synchronous polar orbit in 2028. Derived from the successful COR2 coronagraph on the STEREO mission, MiniCOR will leverage \u27smart\u27 on-board processing for optimizing observations and data downlink to deliver state-of-the-art observations of the corona from 3 to 20 solar radii at a cadence of a 4-5 minutes. The success of MiniCOR will demonstrate that \u27big science\u27 can indeed come in \u27small packages\u27
Performance Analysis of a Pointing, Acquisition, and Tracking System for the VISION Laser Crosslink Mission
Get PDFAs the volume of space-borne data increases, laser communication techniques are being considered to achieve a fast transmission rate and high link security or privacy. The very-high-speed intersatellite link system using an infrared optical terminal and nanosatellite (VISION) mission comprises two 6U formation-flying nanosatellites, and its main objective is to achieve a Gbps-level inter-satellite data-transfer capacity by applying laser communication technology in free space. A pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) system is required to establish and maintain a stable laser crosslink. In the CubeSat platform, the PAT system relies on a satellite attitude determination and control system (ADCS) for body pointing, owing to its low size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. Precise orbit/attitude determination and control techniques primarily determine the availability of a coarse pointing system before entering a fast-steering mirror (FSM) feedback loop system with a laser communication terminal (LCT). This study focused on developing a software orbit-attitude integrated simulator to analyze the performance of the PAT system in the VISION mission scenario. An orbit-attitude integrated simulator was designed to test and validate the PAT sequence of the bus initialization stage (BIS) and coarse PAT stage (CPS) with short-wave infrared camera (CAM) feedback. By applying the characteristics of the CubeSat, absolute and relative navigation systems, star trackers, and control hardware, numerical assessments were conducted to evaluate the body pointing performance during the PAT sequence caused by internal or external disturbances in the VISION mission scenario. The simulation results give a total body pointing error of 46.94 arcsec (3σ), indicating that the attitude control system combined with the developed navigation model satisfies the total body pointing error budget within 90 arcsec (3σ) in the PAT system
Quality of Life Domains for Students Living With a Severe Disability and Their Families
Get PDFBackground and Purpose
From the latter half of the 20th century to now, the United States has dramatically focused its efforts on increasing life longevity and quality of life for people with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Federal legislation has taken steps to increase quality of life for people with IDD. Quality of life can be assessed through a variety of questionnaires, including the familial perspective of quality of life. Although quality of life can be assessed and it is supported by federal legislation, people with IDD broadly have yet to experience an enviable quality of life. Given that, the purpose of this study is to determine quality of life for families who have a student with an IDD located at a center-based school; specifically, the study inquires about satisfaction in relation to the family quality of life domain - disability related support.
Methods
Surveys were sent out to 225 families of children who attend a center-based school. The 9-item survey, “KSHS-Quality of Life-Disability Support,” The survey has been used to ask respondents to rate their satisfaction of support for their child inside and outside of school, and familial perceptions of importance of aspects of family quality of life in relation to their child with a severe and profound disability.
Results
I received 61 returned responses, which is an overall response rate of 27%. Results revealed that 88% of respondents identified as the mother of the child with a severe disability. There was positive satisfaction with special education service providers, and 18% were dissatisfied with support services outside of the school. The majority of respondents spent 10-25% of their income on special care for their child. 90.2% of respondents said that receiving disability support is “very important” to their family quality of life. The three major identified resource needs were : Division of Services for People with Disabilities, respite care, and communication support. Results and discussion considerations are outlined in further detail
Statistical Anomaly Analysis of Small Satellite Missions Focusing on Payloads
Get PDFWith the rapid development of space technology, the number of new satellites has expanded rapidly in recent years, and the applications of satellites have gradually expanded into other industries and deeper into academia. While the small satellite category is experiencing significant growth, the behavior of small satellites still requires more in-depth study. A growing number of academic and industrial customers are looking to use satellites to achieve their scientific or business goals without having to develop a full satellite mission, including a satellite platform. Hosting payloads on other satellites or procuring pre-qualified platforms enables new mission flexibility while minimizing the risk of excessive development time and cost as well as the likelihood of mission loss due to self-introduced platform failures. This approach allows customers to focus on the development of their payloads. In order to improve the development process of these payloads while ensuring their reliability and safety, it is necessary to further study the statistical distribution of satellite payload anomalies from past missions. This study helps to learn from the statistical knowledge of past missions and where to focus, while creating new payload development processes that are leaner and improve the life cycle safety of future missions. Through this analysis, a prediction can be made of major engineering optimization areas for development. The results then provide an important theoretical basis for the future coordination of successful industrial and educational programs focused on satellite payload development. For this analysis a certified satellite database with satellite from Oct. 1957 to Oct. 2023 forms the baseline for the study.
This study presents a statistical analysis of small satellite missions, focusing on anomalies in payloads. A brief introduction to the observation of recent spaceflight evolution is given, focusing on small satellites compared to CubeSats and large satellites. This is followed by a detailed assessment of error anomalies overall and in relation to small satellite payloads. The lessons learnt from these results are also presented: To enhance small satellite mission success, focusing on quality and design is crucial. One key strategy could include streamlining processes, and accelerating development while accepting higher risks, as well as applying lessons learned in a second mission if needed
Adversarial Assessment of the \u3ci\u3eF Prime\u3c/i\u3e Flight Software Framework: Findings and Recommendations
Get PDFF Prime (F’) is a multi-platform, open-source flight software (FSW) framework developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). F’ provides a highly capable, component-driven framework tailored towards, but not limited to, small-scale systems like CubeSats, SmallSats, and instruments. We conducted an adversarial assessment of F’ aimed at evaluating its security vulnerabilities. This preliminary assessment of F’ entailed a multi-stage simulation of a malicious actor’s activities, including open-source reconnaissance, passive and active reconnaissance, and exploitation. In this paper, we present our methodology and discuss the preliminary findings of this assessment, which highlighted several areas where F’ could be enhanced. These areas include the implementation of encryption for uplink and down-link communication, command authentication, the establishment of community standard cybersecurity practices, remediation of information leakage, and development of an opcode randomizer to provide secure defaults. We expect this preliminary work to inspire further detailed security assessments, and further the design and development of more secure and resilient flight software architectures
One Year Satellite Operations of the E-Band Technology Demonstration CubeSat EIVE
Get PDFThe Exploratory In-Orbit Verification of an E-band Link (EIVE) CubeSat is the latest satellite of the University of Stuttgart launched in June 2023. The CubeSat EIVE was developed and built together with partners in industry and research since 2019 and is operated by PhD, graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Space Systems (IRS). The main mission objective is the technology demonstration of a high-speed space-to-ground communication link in the E-band. EIVE may later be repurposed as an educational satellite for students.
The satellite is operated from the Mission Control Center (MCC) at the University of Stuttgart using its newly developed Multi-Mission Operations System (MMOS) software tool for command and control. EIVE operations are conducted with the university’s ground station infrastructure including its custom-built E-band antenna during payload operations. An operations team, consisting of students of different educational levels, was trained to support the project’s core team during initial critical operations.
This paper discusses the EIVE operations over the course of the first year. Operational experiences and developments as well as first payload results are shared and discussed
Starling CubeSat Swarm Technology Demonstration Flight Results
Get PDFThe Starling swarm of four 6U CubeSats launched in July 2023 to test four key technologies to enable future swarm missions:
1) Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking (MANET) over a crosslink radio network
2) Autonomous onboard decision-making for operations
3) Optical-based absolute and relative navigation
4) Autonomous maneuver planning and execution
The Starling team implemented the Better Approach to Mobile Ad-hoc Networking (B.A.T.M.A.N.) protocol to automatically manage the crosslink network of four satellites. The B.A.T.M.A.N. protocol uses a decentralized approach to managing a molti-hop mesh network of devices, in this case, a satellite swarm. The four satellites were able to successfully establish a network at multiple data rates and demonstrate file transfer and command issuance between spacecraft over the network.
Starling incorporated Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy\u27s (DSA) software to demonstrate onboard decision-making. The DSA software takes L1/L2 band GPS measurements and uses them to estimate the relative Total Electron Count (TEC) in the ionosphere. The onboard software then determines if there are any features of interest and provides that information to the other satellites over the crosslink network. The swarm of satellites then reaches a consensus on the optimal TEC observation strategy and adjusts its measurement collection tactics autonomously.
The Starling Formation-Flying Optical Experiment (StarFOX), produced by Stanford\u27s Space Rendezvous Laboratory, uses onboard star trackers to collect images of the other swarm spacecraft and produce angles-only orbit estimates for navigation. This system is envisioned to be valuable when Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are unavailable, such as for navigation in cis-lunar or deep space or tracking of non-cooperative resident space objects. StarFOX successfully applied its algorithms to navigate multiple spacecraft targets simultaneously, using star tracker imagery.
Finally, Starling used Emergent Space\u27s Cluster Flight Application (CFA) software suite for the Reconfiguration and Orbit Maintenance Experiments Onboard (ROMEO) demonstration of autonomously planning and executing propulsive maneuvers. Large swarms will need to be able to maintain formation requirements with minimal operator involvement, especially as the size of the swarm scales up. Results from the ROMEO experiment are presented.
Starling is funded by the Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program out of NASA\u27s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)