Embedded Files
In this club project, build a 1U CubeSat Kit that was donated to KCC by the Hawaiʻi Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL).
In November 2022, NASA deployed ten 6U CubeSats during the Artemis I mission.
Follow the steps below to build our very own fully-functioning KCC version of a 1U CubeSat.
- Inventory
Before anything else, do a full inventory of the parts in the kit. Here is a digital copy of the inventory list:
https://tinyurl.com/ACKBOMv1
2. Assembly Tutorial
2. Assembly Tutorial
For assembly of the kit, follow the steps in the slideset. Remember to take breaks, or divide the process over several sessions.
https://tinyurl.com/ACKASMv1
3. Website
3. Website
This website was compiled to include all of the useful information needed to use the kit (especially the software section).
https://sites.google.com/hawaii.edu/artemiscubesatkit
4. Hardware Integration Checkout
4. Hardware Integration Checkout
Once assembly is completed, perform basic checkouts to ensure that everything is functioning properly.
https://tinyurl.com/ACKcheckv1
5. Day-in-the-Life Testing
5. Day-in-the-Life Testing
Once basic checks are completed, run Day-in-the-Life (DITL) testing to verify that all of the components are working together.
https://tinyurl.com/ACKSystemTest
6. Other Resources
6. Other Resources
Other resources include the following:
Spacecraft Mission Design Textbook
https://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/epet302Spacecraft Mission Design Course materials
https://tinyurl.com/EPET400DriveArtemis CubeSat Kit V1 Kit mechanical and PCB files
https://github.com/hsfl/artemis
A fuel-efficient way to get from Earth to Mars is by a Hohmann transfer orbit.
In this simulation, the white dot represents a spacecraft in orbit around Earth.
You will need to perform an impulsive engine burn to escape Earth and get into a very specific elliptical orbit around the Sun.
The shape (eccentricity) of the ellipse depends on the initial velocity of the spacecraft when it leaves Earth.
For a Hohmann transfer orbit, the goal is to have Earth at one vertex, and Mars at the other, with the Sun in between, located at one focus of the ellipse.
You will need to decide when and how much of an engine burn to perform (or multiple burns if you want).
To conserve fuel, you are only allowed an engine burn (positive or negative) along your velocity vector.
In this example, Mars is a fixed target. In reality, Mars would also be moving, which we will explore using the next tool below this one.
The previous tool demonstrated the concept of a Hohmann transfer orbit, but in reality, both the Earth and Mars are moving.
That means you need to get the timing right, and it turns out that a launch window only really shows up about every 2 years.
For a Hohmann transfer, we want the major axis of the ellipse to be the sum of the orbital radii of Earth (1 AU) and Mars (1.524 AU).
For semi-major axis A and period T, Kepler's third law states that A3 / T2 ≈ 7.496 x 10-6 [AU3 / days2 ] for our solar system.
The semi-major axis for the Hohmann transfer orbit is (1+1.524)/2 AU, and therefore the orbital period is 518 days.
The spacecraft just needs to traverse half of that ellipse to get from Earth to Mars, so it would take 259 days to get there.
The period for Earth is 365 days, and the period for Mars is 687 days.
If you compute the number of degrees each planet sweeps out per day, then you can keep an eye on the angular position of each planet (and particularly the difference between the angles) to figure out when to launch the spacecraft into the Hohmann transfer orbit.
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