Pegasus MSF SatElysium Jordan Burns, Brenden Hogan, Miranda Link, Cody Spiker, Chris Dehoyos, Hemal Semwal November 29, 2011 Final Presentation

Mission Overview Mission Statement: “To test the effects of high altitude flight upon a closed container containing Streptococcus mutans bacterium, and recording their response to discover if harsh high altitude effects bacterial reproduction and survival.” Why? To test the validity the of the recorded results of the 1967 flight of Surveyor III.

Design Overview 21x21x12 cm 2 levels 6 different samples, 3 locations with varying conditions Motorized door 4 sensors Temperature (2) Pressure Visible Light

Functional Block Diagrams

What we changed… Proposal Design 21x21x21 cm cube 2 heaters Tilted petri dishes 6 petri dishes Final Design 21x21x12 cm rectangle 1 heater Flat petri dishes 3 divided petri dishes

Flight Recap Flight was a success! Team all woke up (initially one of our largest worries) Structure was undamaged, except for one dent on impact Bacteria samples were recovered and placed in incubator upon return

Results & Analysis growth rates of our bacterium species are unaffected by exposure to extreme environments. All samples survived and continued colonizing post flight with little effect from any in-flight variables. small effects were defensive barriers and dehydration, but nothing fatal to the strand. Ground samples look identical to flight samples This confirms our experiment in which Surveyor III could quite possibly have been carrying bacterium that survived the duration of its flight.

Alive White cultures on ground control signify death of bacteria Flight cultures showed no sign of decay after flight. Dead RF1 RF2 RF3

Temperature Graphs At burst, the heater breaks and temp decreases until the balloon decends below the tropopause, the coldest point. We can see that our insulation worked, with a difference of 30 degrees at coldest point of the flight. (Thank you to Team 3 for their HOBO data) Celsius

Light Graph There are many jumps in the graph because our door did not seal entirely. Our door opened at the correct time, but closed early, which was not planned. Light Intensity

Pressure Graph LaunchLanding Burst Door Closec Door Open Although pressure was not a factor to our bacteria’s survival, we did see that pressure decreased during flight to near space conditions at burst. Pascals

Failure Analysis unusable temperature sensor the functional parameters of the sensor were between 0 and 100 ºC, this could have been avoided with a different sensor model. broken solder joint in the heater system The wire was dislodged from one of the prefabricated solder points on the battery connector. HOBO malfunction The team ruled that the HOBO was ejected from the computer without using a safe ejection shut down prior to flight. The wire came separated from the solder point beneath the plastic covering

Conclusions In accordance with our hypothesis, SatElysium’s mission showed Streptococcus mutans can survive an environment of extreme cold temperature and light radiation. Thus, the results of the Surveyor III mission, the inspiration for Team Pegasus MSF’s project, are entirely possible. Bacteria adapted to extreme surroundings by shrinking culture Bacteria was safely disposed of in BioServe laboratory

Lessons Learned The value of teamwork Research parts before buying them Research = less money spent Face to face communication is better than Half the team became professional bacteria-wrestlers When in doubt, test, test, test! In the end, we became better problem solvers, engineers, and most of all, friends.

Ready to Fly… Again Addressed all failures HOBO tested successfully solder connections inspected temperature sensor removed Patched the hole with hot glue and aluminum tape All hardware re-secured with Velcro Grow bacteria samples 3 days prior to flight Use fresh batteries Ready to fly, just flip the switches!

HOBO Failure Corrected Functional HOBO re-test test with delay setting activated HOBO flight malfunction with delay setting activated

Message to next semester Hold at least two team meetings per week Start early Figure out what you want to do before you begin This will save time and money! Keep your structure as small as possible Communicate! Trust in your teammates

Mass/Cost Summary Final Weight : 1005 grams Extra Weight from Teams 1, 5, 7, and 9. Cost spent through Gateway: $ Cost spent by Pegasus MSF: $ food and gas

Requirements Matrix RequirementsDescriptionOrigin AConstruct a BalloonSat that shall survive an ascent to 30 km above the surface of Earth and the following decent while maintaining complete functionality. Mission Statement BWeight shall not exceed 850 grams, nor a budget of $370 ($250 + $20/ea out of pocket). CSatElysium shall safely transport 6 samples of Streptococcus mutans during its flight, to later study the effects of temperature and radiation in the stratosphere on the bacteria. DStreptococcus mutans samples shall be recovered and analyzed post-flight. ESatElysium shall carry a camera payload to document footage of the flight of the exterior of the satellite.