Trouble With Bubbles Clear Springs High School 3rd Period Team: Charles Vu, Braden Reed, Aaron Quigg, Andrew Crews, Jason Robinson, Toni Jones, Daniel Schaffer, Nicholas Johnson, Ronen Jacob, Veronica Hardy, Kelly Wayner, Henry Nguyen, Alexis Koerber, John Redfearn, Matthew Shores, Nathan Thompson,

Abstract The experiment is being flown as part of the High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) program from a Project Lead the Way School. A modern challenge that engineers are facing is the hindrance of air bubbles in liquids in microgravity. Unlike on Earth, air bubbles do not separate themselves from liquids due to the lack of gravity in space. This creates a problem with storing and transferring vital liquids such as fuel and hydraulic fluid. It is essential for all gases to be removed from fluid lines for systems to operate efficiently. Designing a contraption that can separate gas bubbles from liquids in microgravity will assist aerospace engineers in solving this problem, which could impact many other applications for storing liquid such as hydraulic systems. Our apparatus consists of two different separating systems, centrifugal and thermal design, stored in a master box. Each system has its own mixture bag and extraction method after the separation. In order to measure the effectiveness of the separating apparatus, we will measure the initial volume of the mixture and then measure the volume of liquid and gas separated. After returning to a 1G environment, we can measure the percentage of gas in the mixture. We will observe the fluid and gas flow inside the separator by using a micro-camera. We will also measure the temperature of our thermal design.

Design

Functional Block Diagram

StoryBoard

Questions How many motors/sensors can be used with each NESI microcontroller?