ACCESS DemoSat 2010 Design Document

Transcription

1 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ACCESS DemoSat 2010 Design Document Team V: "ProtoSat" Written by: Ian Jones, Adam Kim, Dani Strohmier August 6, 2010 Revision D

2 Revision Log Revision Description Date A Conceptual Design Review 6/11/2010 B Preliminary Design Review 6/25/2010 C Critical Design Review 7/16/2010 D Analysis and Final Report 8/5/2010 Page 2 of 26 August 6, 2010

3 Table of Contents 1.0 Mission Overview Requirements Flow Down Design Management Budget Test Plan and Results Expected Results Launch and Recovery Results, Analysis, and Conclusion Ready for Flight Benefits to NASA Potential Follow-on Work Lessons Learned Message to Next Year Page 3 of 26 August 6, 2010

4 1.0 Mission Overview 1.1 Mission Statement: Team V s primary mission is to send a satellite into the stratosphere of Earth to collect any particles that float and roam the upper atmosphere. Our payload will attain a minimum altitude of 30 kilometers in order to test and observe our method of collecting these particles. Our projected method of testing would be the feasibility of using silicone oil to collect the particulates in the air and having them stick onto the oil when it drops back down to the ground. The silicone oil will be exposed to the atmosphere for the duration of five minutes, opening after 50 minutes after launch, and closing after 55 minutes. Our purpose will not to be collecting all particles, but to test and find a new way of collecting these particulates in the air. Upon retrieval, Team V will take any particle samples that we may have collected for immediate storage until the chemistry labs at CCA are available for analysis. 1.2 Mission Background: For many years now, pollution has covered our air and environment and is still in the process. Particulates, hazardous or not, have been unleashed into the atmosphere from multiple human events, past and present, causing this pollution, and will not stop any time soon. With the sound knowledge that the Earth already has various particles in its air, our team was originally interested in collecting and eliminating all those particles in the atmosphere. But this turned out to be a long term project and goal. So we instead focused on the first step of the goal possibly finding new ways of collecting particles. Our group is aiming at pioneering new and easier ways of cleaning the air we breathe. If our mission goes well to plan, we hope we can be an inspiration to other researchers at other institutions to continue our work and lead to the future research of more advanced ways of the eliminating of various particles. 2.0 Requirements Flow Down Level 0 Objective Number O1 O2 O3 Requirement Team V will construct a functioning BalloonSat by 7/31/2010 which will ascend/descend 30 kilometers over the duration of 2.5 hours The BalloonSat will not exceed 1.45 kg of mass and will not cost more than $300 in expense. Both expected fields have allowances factored in. Payload will comply with FCC regulations and will not interfere with the BalloonSat primary communications array. The BalloonSat will maintain an internal temperature of above 0 degrees Celsius at all times Reference Page 4 of 26 August 6, 2010

5 O4 O5 O6 The BalloonSat will carry two 80 mm petri dishes, each with a thin layer of silicone oil on them The BalloonSat will collect particle samples from the atmosphere at high altitudes All data will be retrievable and able to be analyzed under a microscope R1.1 R1.2 R1.3 R2.1 R2.2 R3.1 R5.1 R5.2 R6.1 The mass and financial budget will be divided among all the components, structural and electrical, of the payload. Our project will be testable by mid-july. The structure will remain intact through the course of the flight and will be retrievable upon landing The BalloonSat will withstand all weather conditions of the atmosphere including excessive temperature changes, heavy winds, and forces of impact The entirety of the interior will be insulated and covered with the insulation foam core The BalloonSat will be constructed from foam board and insulated using foam core, resulting in a rectangular box All the instruments inside and the overall structure will remain intact and functional during the entire flight and will be recoverable from landing site. Through donations from the CCA Physics lab, the financial budget will remain under $300 The BalloonSat will be functional at low exterior temperatures. The heaters inside will operate to help maintain the heated side above 0 degrees Celsius The servo motor will be programmed to open after 50 minutes and close after 55 minutes, leaving the 5 minute window to collect any particles in the air The roof of the BalloonSat will have two small openings that will directly mirror the two openings of the cardboard roof over the petri dish. The roof will also have the ability to fully cover the openings when the servo motor is not operating Data in the form of particles will be found on the petri dishes and will be placed under a microscope O1 O1 O1 O2 O2 O3 O5 O5 O6 Page 5 of 26 August 6, 2010

6 3.0 Design 3.1 Design Overview: Team V s satellite project will be a basic rectangular box constructed from black foam board. Its dimensions will be 29cm x 23cm x 14 cm. The entire box will be hot glued together, with additional aluminum tape being double taped across each glued edge for extra durability. The entire interior will be air tight and fully insulated using 1 cm thick insulation foam core, hot glued on each 4 sides, top, and bottom, inside the payload. The foam core is to ensure the interior temperature will be steady and for the safety of all the components inside. The restricted size and mass seemed to be no problem with our payload Each corner of the payload will have something housed on it. The parallax motor will be elevated to match the top of the roof in order to spin properly and [hopefully] collect data. It will be raised up using 4 sheets of foam core glues to each other and having foam board covering each side. The top will be made to have the motor fit snug without any movement. Across from the motor will be a pre-made shelf, fully made of foam core to properly house the BASIC stamp circuit board on top in order to have its connected circuits run loosely hot glued on. Four centimeters underneath that shelf would be the bottom shelf, which will house the control petri dish with silicone oil in it. Both the petri dish and BASIC stamp board will be surrounded by foam core on all sides in order to prevent any movement and/or damage. This will also ensure that the control petri dish will not be affected or contaminated during the flight. The two remaining corners will have a battery house connected to it, having three batteries for the heater board and two for the circuit board, each being held to the ground by two glued pieces of foam core. These batteries were separated to avoid any excessive heat up caused by the batteries. Everything is taped down to the interior foam core by extra duct tape for extra support and sturdiness. For our closing mechanism, there will be a circular portion cut out from the roof of the interior foam core (but not the foam board). It will be slightly larger than our petri dish that we will be using to ensure easy spinning movement of the dish from the motor. Directly above the hole will be two small rectangular openings in order for the petri dish to collect data when the petri dish top is moved into the opening at the given time that we program it to. We will be programming the motor to spin, which has a cardboard paper roof with two additional rectangular openings cut out, only a cm clockwise, so it will be exposed to the outside atmosphere when the two rectangle match up. The petri dish will spin after 50 minutes of the flight, opening in the presumed stratosphere and collect any particulates, and spin again to close to prevent any unnecessary contamination. The motor will not spin the petri dish again for the duration of the flight. Wires will be soldered together from the switch, the circuit board, and the battery clips, red to black to each other, while the motor wires will be directly connected only to the circuit board. The heater board will be mounted to the ground near the front of the box in order to reach its batteries. The two switches, one that controls the heating and the other to control the circuit board, will be separated from each other. One will be attached to the front wall and the other will be attached to the back wall because of the length of the connecting wires. Page 6 of 26 August 6, 2010

7 3.2 Functional Block Diagram Heating Unit 9-Volt Battery 9-Volt Battery Switch Heater (3 Resistors) 9-Volt Battery Servo Motor & BASIC Stamp Board Switch Basic Stamp Board Servo Motor 9-Volt Battery Page 7 of 26 August 6, 2010

8 3.3 Parts List ITEM WEIGHT Foam Board 147 g Insulation Board for outer shell 78 g Insulation Board for interior 80 g Servo Motor 42 g Silicone Oil 8 g Petri Dish 80mm (2) 8 g Sand Resistor (3) 27 g BASIC Stamp 76 g 9-Volt Batteries (5) 230 g Switch (2) 16 g 1/4 Tube 5 g 3/8 Washers (2) 11 g Wirings 16 g Aluminum Tape 6 g Duct Tape 12 g Hot Glue (13 sticks) 130 g TOTAL 892 g Figure 3.1 Side view with angle of shelf on left (housing the control petri dish underneath the BASIC Stamp control board) Page 8 of 26 August 6, 2010

9 Figure 3.2 Batteries housing on the bottom left and top right. Servo motor is elevated on bottom right, which will hold the sampling petri dish prior to launch. Shelf with circuit board is on top and control petri dish underneath (non visible). All components secured and isolated with insulation foam core glued onto the exterior and duct taped for extra support 4.0 Management 4.1 Organization: Team V consists of 3 members: Ian, Dani, and Adam. Each team member is assigned individual work that is evenly divided to help complete this project. With a limited window of time, each member has assisted each other with any other aspects of the project. Every member is responsible for ongoing research the specific elements of each idea that was presented and the documentation of the slides and design document for each deadline given. With jobs, school, and/or other obligations, all members have met in the mid-afternoons of the months of June and July. Page 9 of 26 August 6, 2010

10 4.2 Organizational Chart: Victor Andersen Aid/Consultant/Support Ian Jones Lead Designer/ Electronics Dani Strohmier Administration/ Wiring Adam Kim Structural Engineer The primary and specific responsibilities of each member are as followed: Ian is responsible for the primary idea of the closing mechanism s design and construction on the BASIC stamp board. He also is responsible for the wiring of all electronic components of the BASIC stamp, servo motor, and heating system, along with the programming of the BASIC stamp for its primary mission. Dani is responsible for the ongoing communications with CU Space Grant coordinator Kendra Kilbride, all the soldering of wires needed for the satellite, and documentation through the production of slides for each readinesss review. She is also responsible for the construction of the outer shell of the prototype and final satellite box Adam is responsible for the construction and the integrity of the prototype and final satellite box, insulation and safety of each individual component inside, and documentation through the writing of the design document. He is also responsible for the interior design and all measurements of the exterior. All members are responsible for budget, testing, and launch readiness Page 10 of 26 August 6, 2010

11 4.3 Schedule: Date June 2, 2010 June 7, 2010 June 11, 2010 June 14, 2010 June 21, 2010 June 22, 2010 June 24, 2010 June 28, 2010 July 5, 2010 July 7, 2010 July 10, 2010 July 12, 2010 July 16, 2010 July 24, 2010 July 26, 2010 July 28, 2010 July 30, 2010 July 31, 2010 August August 6, 2010 Scheduled Events Introductory Meeting with whole group Prototype Volcano Idea selescted as main idea Preliminary Design Document (Rev A/B) completed 1 st mission proposal Balloon Pump failed 2 nd mission proposal Spectrometer failed Pre-draft model constructed from paper Critical Design Document (Rev C) completed 3 rd mission proposal Air Filters failed 4 th mission proposal Gas Sensor failed Final mission and experiment selected Pre-Planning model constructed from cardboard Interior design and mechanism layout completed Needed supplies and materials ordered Programming of closing mechanism complete Experimented with silicone oil and petri dishes - decided to use plastic instead of glass dishes Prototype construction complete Built final satellite frame and outer shell Stair, whip, and operational drop testing completed Final Satellite box construction completed Cooler Test Completed Launch Readiness Review presentation in Boulder, CO Launch Analysis of silicone oil Final Design Document (Rev D) completed Page 11 of 26 August 6, 2010

12 5.0 Budget ITEM QUANTITY COST WHERE IT WAS BOUGHT Foam Board 3 $26.97 Hobby Lobby Insulation Foam 2 $28.58 McMaster.com Servo Motor (Black) 1 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab Servo Motor (Silver) 1 $28.02 Parallax.com Silicone Oil Bottle 2 (35 ml) $29.87 Nexusracing.com Plastic Petri Dishes 2 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab 80mm Glass Petri Dishes 10 $17.20 Cynmar.com BASIC Stamp 1 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab Sand Resistor 3 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab Wirewound Resistor 2 $1.99 RadioShack (10 Ohms) PC Board (for heaters) 1 $1.99 RadioShack Switch 2 $5.98 RadioShack 9-Volt Batteries 15 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab/Donated 1/4 Tube 1 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab 3/8 Washers 2 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab Hot Glue 13 sticks $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab Battery Clips 1 $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab Wirings 1 $6.99 RadioShack Electric Tape 1 $1.99 RadioShack Duct Tape - $0 Provided by CCA s Physics Lab Aluminum Tape 1 $7.28 RadioShack Dry Ice 4 $12 King Soopers TOTAL $ Test Plan and Results 6.1 Test Plans: To ensure a stable landing, an intact payload after the launch, and for all our components to function properly, we will undergo several tests on our satellite. We want our satellite to have the least amount of damage on the outside in order to have everything inside the box properly insulated and protected. Because we only had one servo motor to work with, we only used the motor for the cooler test to ensure no damage will happen to it. Thus, we taped up washers and other various weights to equal the weight of each component to replicate the real life payload that we will be launching. We also did not tape the testing prototype s corner together because our aluminum tape that we ordered did not come in yet Page 12 of 26 August 6, 2010

13 Test Purpose Description Our payload had to be able to endure the physical G-forces We will attach a thin rope, around 5 feet, through the payload, tying a Whip Test of being tethered in mid-air knot on the bottom to prevent any around while being attached slips. Then, in an open field, we will to the balloon cord swing the payload around by the rope Drop Test Stair Test Cooler Test Parallax Servo Motor Test Our payload had to be able to endure a hard landing and have the components inside still working properly, all while being intact During the flight, our payload must be able to endure all the hardships of being dragged through the atmosphere due to harsh windy conditions When our payload is exposed to the colder temperatures in the atmosphere, all the electronic instruments in our payload must be able to function properly and endure any weather conditions. Without knowing the actual weather, we need to be prepared in the most extreme ways We need our engine to open at a certain time, therefore we need to make sure that the engine will function properly for a few seconds as fast as possible To ensure that our payload will be in one piece upon the impact of landing, we will drop our payload from the second story building of our campus. The payload will land on a concrete surface. This would resemble a free fall type landing if anything would happen to the parachute On the top of a two story stairway, we will roll the payload down the stairs in every angle. The stairs are outside and made of concrete Buying dry ice from a local supermarket, we will place our prototype payload and place it in a Styrofoam cooler box with dry ice surrounding it for 2.5 hours. This will be the only test where the servo motor and the heaters will be part of the actual test. The cooler will resemble colder weather conditions in the upper atmosphere where the payload will fly across. This will help indicate whether the motor, BASIC stamp board, and heater can function during these conditions We will program the servo motor to not to switch clockwise every 3 seconds multiple times, but only once after 50 minutes (estimated time where the balloon will reach the stratosphere with all the payload), stay open for 5 minutes to attempt to collect particles, and close after the 5 minutes are up. Page 13 of 26 August 6, 2010

14 6.2 Results: Test Date Results Whip Test 7/26/2010 Trial 1: Upon swinging the payload for about 3 seconds, the knot on the rope on the bottom was much smaller and loose than originally predicted, going right through the payload. It flew about 7 feet away. Only a few scratches occurred Trial 2: For our second trial, we decided not to swing the payload like the cowboy style and decided to swing it by spinning our body and holding onto the rope. This trial was much slower than the first trial, much everything stayed in place Drop Test 7/26/2010 After being dropped from the second story of our classroom building, the payload was able to stay mostly intact, but overall, it did not withstand the impact of the drop. Everything inside that was attached fell apart and the back left corner of our box ripped off from each other, but did not completely open the box because of the insulation foam that was still intact. Huge dents were made on the exterior on the left wall of the payload and all four back corners were half flattened Stair Test 7/26/2010 We did not really need to kick the structure down the stairs because when we started rolling it from the top, the overall weight naturally dragged the payload down the flight of stairs. We rolled it down two sets of stairs and the revealed no physical damage and only some attached weights inside became loose, but not fully detached Cooler Test 7/28/2010 Trial 1: With all components being used for this test, we originally thought that everything was initially functioning properly. However, after two and a half hours in the cooler box, we found out that our heater was not working at all. The circuit switch was not connected properly. Trial 2: With everything finally operational and connected properly, we were ready to test our payload again. All the components were still working fine during and after the test and we were able to conclude that everything would survive under colder conditions The servo motor works normally and after developing the Parallax Servo 7/28/2010 proper program, the motor turned the Petri dish as expected Motor Test and functioned the way we wanted it to Page 14 of 26 August 6, 2010

15 Outdoor Stair and Drop Test: Figure 6.1 Left Back Corner Figure 6.2 Right Back Corner (fully split) Page 15 of 26 August 6, 2010

16 7.0 Expected Results Due to the small sizes of the petri dish and the two opening windows at connect to the roof, we are already know that the duration of the exposure to the atmosphere by the petri dish may not lead to as much data particles as we are expecting. However, we do expect to find something attached to the silicone oil from the air when it lands, whether it be hazardous particles or not. Because we have a perti dish control sample that will be hidden and a separate petri dish sampling system that will be exposed to the air for five minutes, we expect that the control sample will not be contaminated and the sampling system will have collected some particles while in the air, leading to the expectation that these two samples will somewhat differ from each other. We expect that the silicone oil in both petri dishes will not have any movement due to its thickness and not affect our observations and after the flight, through the usage of a microscope, we will observe and compare the sampling system dish to see if the silicone oil in it had any changes from the control dish. The gathering data is expected to help us see and conclude if silicone oil is a feasible and legitimate way of collecting particulates 8.0 Launch and Recovery Team V will all be present for the launch of our payload. Our payload will be launched from Genoa, Colorado at 7:10 am MST on July 31, Originally, the launch site was to be Deer Trail, Colorado. But due to wind conditions and high chances of rain, the launch site had to be switched. With the aid of the Edge of Space Sciences (EoSS), all payloads from the other participating schools will be attached to a thin rope which will be attached to a giant latex weather balloon. The total flight time was about 128 minutes and the balloon burst was just below 100,000 meters at 99,896 meters. Payloads were tracked using GPS systems that were attached to the balloon and connected through each of the EoSS vehicles. The payloads all landed on private property in the middle of grasslands, but were not difficult to retrieve. Our satellite did not sustain heavy damages upon impact of landing. We immediately turned off our heating unit and servo motor via switches that we attached to the payload and covered the openings on the lid with clear plastic wrap to avoid further contamination. We stored our satellite in a dry room until microscopes were to be available. Page 16 of 26 August 6, 2010

17 Figure 8.1 Figure 8.2 This is a 3D Representation of the entire flight (thanks to google maps) Page 17 of 26 August 6, 2010

18 Figure 8.3 (Team V payload on the top left) Figure 8.4 Page 18 of 26 August 6, 2010

19 9.0 Results, Analysis, and Conclusion 9.1 Results and Analysis: All electrical devices performed well as expected and the exterior structure held together on its own throughout the entire flight. The heating unit kept the interior well under temperature and the closing mechanism of the servo motor opened and closed at the expected times. After 50 minutes from launch, the motor turned on, spinning the petri dish to be partially exposed to the atmosphere. Its altitude was approximately 54,755 feet. The exposure lasted for five minutes of collecting proper data. After the five minutes (55 minutes after launch), the motor spun the opposite way, never to spin again for the remainder of the flight. It closed the petri dish from exposure at an altitude of 58,322 feet. Initially, some of the silicone oil had been tilted and spread onto the petri dish covers, as seen below. A faint stain can be seen on the top of each cover. Control Sampling Page 19 of 26 August 6, 2010

20 CONTROL (COVERED) Upon examining each individual petri dish, we assumed that the control sample had little to no particles on it. By the naked eye, there were no visible dots on it. It was just under a microscope that we were proven wrong. But even though we did find some particles, there weren t a whole lot of them. All of the particulates were only microscopic and maxing from dust particles found. They were mostly close on the edges, presumable from poor taping. We were still able to compare this dish to the sampling dish Control Dish Page 20 of 26 August 6, 2010

21 SAMPLING (EXPOSED) When we observed the sampling dish, just by looking at it we could easily see dust particles, unlike the control dish. But still, most of the particles that we found were under a microscope. This time, there were more than double the amount of particles found on the silicone oil, at least 30 countable particles, compared to the control. Like the control dish, the edges of the dish were affected more; most of the particles were found near the edge. We discovered particles like very thin fibrous matters (hair-like particles) that were actually the majority of what we found, larger dust particulates, and even some that were darker than those found on the control. We excluded all foam pieces that may have accidentally dropped onto the silicone oil from the spinning of the dish (which was surrounded and isolated by the foam core). One large piece of foam was found in the middle of the dish Sampling Dish Page 21 of 26 August 6, 2010

22 The picture below was taken through a microscope. These are some of the many fibrous matters that we discovered. One can see many of these hair-like particles all around the lens area below. One can also see many other small dust particles all around the lens area. This is near the edge of the petri dish, which we already concluded collected majority of the particles found. The large blob on the left side is just the glue underneath the dish. The picture below shows one of the larger particulates found on the silicone oil. This photo was taken at a larger resolution of the microscope, but was still larger in size than the majority of the particles found. With closer examination, we concluded that this was not a foam residue, as initially thought. Page 22 of 26 August 6, 2010

23 9.2 Conclusion: We are not fully certain to the degree of success we may have achieved in the particles sense. Although we may have collected more matter on the sample petri dish than the control dish, these results are still inconclusive. Since we used basic classroom microscopes for our analysis, we may not know what we have gathered and collected altogether. Some particulates may have been too small to see through our restricted magnification and without extra aid of professional environmental scientists, some particulates may not have been properly identified, whether it may have been seen through the microscope or not. We still cannot confirm if what we gathered was truly gathered from the stratosphere, due to possible air leakage from where the openings, which were only closed through cardboard lids on the petri dishes, were on the lid of the satellite. We did not collect as many particulates as we originally had hoped. But our available data may shed some light on future advancements similar to this project of cleaning more of the air we breathe. We have succeeded in programming a device that can open at a certain time and even close at a certain time and not repeat the process again. Our mission may be a success in the electrical sense, but we concluded that there can be changes to advance our project. We should use larger petri dishes with lids that have wider openings for the silicone oil to have a larger area of exposure to the air particles. There would be more space for airflow to move fast through, collecting a larger number of particles than before and even collect more differing types of particles (as we have only collecting about 2-3 types). Some particles may have been near the payload during flight but may have just missed the smaller opening that we currently had. We should also program our motor to spin the sampling petri dish, which is responsible for exposing the dish to the atmosphere and shifting the dish s opening under the roof, for a longer delay in shift change so there can be more time to collect any particles through the silicone oil (as we have used a 5 second time frame, we should have used around 10 seconds). This would also help clean the air at a faster rate when more particles get caught onto the oil Ready for Flight The payload had survived all the physical tests thrown at her and still functioned properly after being in a cooler for 2.5 hours. The interior structure is completely isolated, with no movement of any components whatsoever. Unlike all our fellow BalloonSat groups, storage of the payload will not be through the University of Colorado. Rather, we will be in charge of our own storage. The night before the flight, we will do all final preparations for launch, including gluing the lid on tightly and re-taping the sides of the box for extra strength. New batteries will be put in to ensure the instruments inside will be fully functional for the entire flight and new petri dishes will be used to avoid initial contamination, along with new untouched silicone oil being poured onto the two separate dishes. Our closing mechanism has be programmed and preloaded onto the servo motor for expected movement of the petri dish Page 23 of 26 August 6, 2010

24 This payload is fully ready for another launch if needed because all insulation inside is still fully intact, along with the exterior structure being essentially undamaged. The only things that need to be replaced would be the batteries for full operation and the petri dishes with the silicone oil inside. Of course, basic testing should be redone for assurance Benefits to NASA In our experiment, Team V studied the Earth s stratosphere and the atmospheric particulates that roam around it freely. We explored new ways of collecting and even eliminating these particulates, specifically we studied more of the option of using silicone oil. Our mission was a success in retrieving particulates from our flight and able to see these particles through a microscope. With NASA beginning to look more into our own planet than others, this research can be beneficial to NASA. They have researched climate changes, environmental health, and overall human saftery and interaction with the planet that we live in. The silicone oil successful demonstrated that it can collect particles up in the air and bring it down to ground level for scientists to see without much, or even any contamination affecting the oil. If NASA was in research for viable ways of cleaning the air, combating climate change, or any other environmental issues, then we believe that silicone oil may be worth a second look NASA would also benefit from our project with the closing mechanism that we have created just for this project with the aid of a servo motor. Our goal was to focus more on the stratosphere rather than ground level air. With particulates in the stratosphere growing, we also helped demonstrate the effectiveness of our mechanism by showing only thre particulates in the stratosphere rather than all the particulates in a 100,000 meter altitude. Our device opened after 50 minutes, presumably when the payload would reach stratosphere level and closed after five minutes to prevent any other particulates that could be caught by the oil in the troposphere or anywhere else. This projected could help assist NASA or any other scientists that we can actually collect any level dust particles regardless of their location Potential Follow-on Work Our project ProtoSat could be a project that can be easily followed up in the future. We chose a popular topic in environmental issues, specifically focusing on the cleaning of the air we breathe. Follow on work can include further research and knowledge in air particles, programming, and chemistry. Follow up work was expected and even encouraged. Our servo motor worked properly, it was just the overall size of the openings and the insulated area of the sampling petri dish that should be reexamined for less contamination. Since that motor s closing mechanism was just programmed by a mere laptop from a basic programming language and was structured in the satellite box with cheap foam core, one follow on work for future scientists and engineers can be to help evolve this way with much more advanced (and expensive) instruments in the collecting of particles in a specific level of the atmosphere. Page 24 of 26 August 6, 2010

25 Another follow on is that if future scientists extend their time in initial research of the many different particles of the air, they can test new chemicals that can help reduce and hopefully eliminate the particles in the air. Silicone oil did collect, but we could not conclude if this was the best way of collecting particles. Because we did have limited resources, we came to this idea with the intention of pioneering future groups to continue to follow up on our research. This mission should continue because there is so much left to be researched, and pollution is a very real issue that humanity cannot ignore 13.0 Lessons Learned Our group has learned multiple things throughout this entire project. One of the major lessons was that we needed to utilize our time efficiently. All of our group members researched different ideas and did not communicate well in the first month. At the beginning of this project, we went through several ideas that each of us had put our efforts in researching, only to settle on an idea almost a month before launch. Because of this, the amount of work near the launch was strenuous for each of us. But we still got the work done. More research should have been done with how to avoid air contamination to our petri dishes and the effectiveness of silicone oil. We needed more research on the different particulates that float around in the atmosphere; what different particulates look like under a microscope, what types we expect to find is a given level of the atmosphere, and what would be the best process of analyzing these particles. Also, we learned that along with time efficiency, time usage is very important. The schedules of community college students differ so much that we rarely spent a lot of time with each other; one student could not meet at nights, another could not meet during mornings, and our teacher was not available on certain days due to his classes. But we did learn in the scientific sense that silicone oil does indeed collect dust in the air and to avoid future contaminations of the control dish, we learned that we must isolate the dish much better in a more advanced housing unit Message to Next Year To the incoming group of people who will be participating in the ACCESS Space Grant program, this is a great experience to be part of. Regardless of what school you may be going to, you will get the opportunity to see all your ideas and imaginations come to life in a scientific project. You will have the opportunity to work with people associated with NASA, yes the same industry that sent a man on the moon. You will not be told what type of project you will have to make. You will not be told what field of interest your project has to relate to. You will be given a time constraint and a maximum financial budget. After that, you and your new group will have the freedom of finding an idea to test, shedding some light on Page 25 of 26 August 6, 2010

26 questions that you may have wanted to know more about. Don t be afraid to explore new and uncertain areas of science. Many ideas may not work the first time. Your ideas may change. But that that is the whole learning process. Take advantage of the aid that you may receive from teachers. Consult with them as often as you can and do not hesitate in communicating with the Space Grant coordinator. The coordinator has helped us so many times throughout the duration of the project. Get to know your teammates well and early. Working as a group will make this project a lot more easy and enjoyable. Be alert with your time though. Time can be your enemy if you fall behind. If you commit your time and efforts well into this project, which will be a challenging process, you will gain so much valuable knowledge that you could not get anywhere else, and have fun along the way. The reward is well worth the work. Page 26 of 26 August 6, 2010