Colton Hall, Brendan Lee, David Thomas, Zak Collins, Eli Nelson, Devin Bazata October 6, 2011 The Wright Stuff Conceptual Design Review

Mission Overview The first objective is to send petri dishes with bacteria growing on them into space to see how they are affected by the conditions of space. The three main factors that we will study are temperature, ultraviolet radiation and extremely low pressure. The second objective is to collect bacteria living in the stratosphere. What we hope to discover about them is what they use for energy, how they survive the UV radiation, and how they survive in the extreme cold shtmlhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Stratosphere-Reveals-New-Bacteria shtml

Why? Explore the Origins of Life Find New Life Test Durability of Known Species Explore options of life in space and possible life on other planets

Hypothesis The bacteria sent up on the BalloonSat will not survive due to the affects of UV radiation, temperature, and low pressure. However the one shielded from all these conditions will survive. We will be able to collect bacteria near the tropopause, and when the petri dish returns to Earth, and is incubated, bacteria will grow.

Requirements Flow Down Our BalloonSat Aliquid In Spatio will ascend to approximately 30 kilometers into the atmosphere to determine if bacterial microbes that inhabit the surface of the earth are able to withstand the harsh environment of near space, as well as to attempt to discover if there are bacterial microbes that inhabit the tropopause. Our BalloonSat will also carry our bacterial samples into near space to test them for survivability in that harsh environment. Our BalloonSat will carry sterile petri dishes and expose them to the atmosphere at the altitude of the tropopause to see if any bacteria live in that environment. We will run the HOBO datalogger for the entirety of our flight to gather inside and outside temperature as well as humidity data from the start to finish of our flight.

Requirements Flow Down (cont.) We will carry three different sets of bacteria to test if they can survive. We will expose one set of bacteria to all of the effects of near space: low temperature, low pressure, and radiation. We will then expose one set of bacteria to just the radiation. Our final set will be our control and will not be exposed to any of the rigors of near space. Our BalloonSat will use the Arduino Board to control our servo so that it exposes the sterile petri dish to the atmosphere at the tropopause, and to the atmosphere 1000 feet above and below the tropopause. The BalloonSat will heat to a minimum of -10 degrees Celsius during the of the flight as well as provide mounting for the temperature and humidity probes. Our BalloonSat will provide heating for the Petri dish exposed to only UV radiation so that it stays at a temperature equivalent to that of the control dish, a temperature of -10 degrees Celsius.

Requirements Flow Down (cont.) Our BalloonSat will use a servo which is activated by the Arduino Board as a function of time, so that our petri dish is exposed starting at an altitude 1000 feet below to 1000 feet above the tropopause, using data from previous BalloonSat flights to deploy our petri dish at the correct altitude. Heating: Our BalloonSat will provide heating for the HOBO device through the use of a heater and thermal insulation so that our HOBO datalogger is in its operating temperature range at all times, as well as protection from the structure. Heating: Our BalloonSat will provide heating for the petri dish that is to only be exposed to the UV radiation of space so that our data is valid, as well as protection and support from the structure. Heating: Our BalloonSat will heat our servo so that it is within its operating temperature so that it will be able to expose our petri dish to the atmosphere, as well as a mounting point via the structure. The arduino will be used to control the arm.

Foam core construction Kapton foil insulation Rectangular prism shape 2 petri dishes on top (exposed) o heater beneath one dish Servo arm on top o holds a sterile petri dish for bacteria collection o spring will keep dish sealed when servo not running includes motor, base, and plastic servo arm 1 petri dish inside (Velcro connection) Heater, Arduino Uno, HOBO, 9v Batteries, Control Petri Dish, and camera inside Lithium batteries (4x9v) for power Basics of Design

The How To For our experiment testing the survivability of surface based bacteria, we will fly three petri dishes on our BalloonSat, one which is exposed to all elements of near space, one only exposed to radiation of near space, and one which will act as our control. After the bactria return, we will incubate them to see if the continue to grow, if they do not, then they did not survive the trip. For our second experiment, we will be using a servo attached to a petri dish which will remove the lid 1000 ft below the tropopause, and will use a spring mechanism to close the petri dish once we get to 1000 ft above the tropopause. We will then incubate the dish on its return to see if we found any bacteria in the tropopause.

Technical Drawings

Functional Diagram

Testing Plan  There will be two Drop tests to measure the durability of the petri dishes, as well as the whole BalloonSat  Scheduled for October 15 and 19  The Staircase test will measure the durability of the BalloonSat over a series of smaller but more numerous impacts, and will be performed by tumbling the satellite down a flight of stairs.  Scheduled for October 15  Whip tests will show how well the opening for the cord attaching the satellite to the balloon will fare under the atmospheric conditions faced during flight.  Scheduled for October 15

Bacteria tests will involve placing them on a petri dish and placing them in the same environment where we will incubate the launched bacteria. o Scheduled to begin October 8 Freeze tests will be administered to the vital components and subsystems of the satellite to show how well they will work in a cold environment. o Scheduled for October 15 Finally, Vacuum tests will determine the petri dishes performance in a pressure less environment. However, the durability of the seals on petri dishes used to hold the bacteria will be the primary interest. o Scheduled for October 19

Management Chart

09/17: Work on Conceptual Design Independently 09/20: Conceptual Design Due at 7:00 AM 09/24: Team Meeting (11:00 AM) 09/27: Hardware Ordering (Time by Appointment) 10/01: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Building) 10/04: Design Document Rev. A/B Due at 7:00 AM 10/04: Critical Design Presentation Due at 7:00 AM 10/08: Team Meeting (11:00 AM) (Building) 10/15: Team Meeting (11:00 AM) (Tests) (Building) 10/18: Mid Semester Team Evaluation Due at 9:30 AM 10/19: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Vacuum Test and Repeat All Other Tests excepting Freeze Test) 10/23: Team Meeting (11:00 AM and 7:00 PM) (Redo any tests that need it) (Final Building) 10/25: Pre-launch Inspection/Bring all hardware to class 10/26: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Final Touch-ups) 10/27: In-class Mission Simulation Tests 10/29: Team Meeting (11:00 AM) (Final Touch-ups) (Work on LLR and DD) 11/01: LLR Presentations Due at 7:00 AM 11/01: Design Document Rev. C Due at 7:00 AM 11/02: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Final Touch-ups) 11/04: Final Balloon SAT Weigh-in and Turn In (Time by appointment) 11/04: DLC 270A and LRR Cards Due by 2:00 PM 11/05: LAUNCH DAY (4:45 AM - 4:00 PM) 11/05: Team Meeting (Upon Return) (Store Data from Launch) 11/08: Bring Raw Flight Data to Class 11/09: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Collect Data) 11/13: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Collect Data) 11/16: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Data/Prepare for Final Presentation) 11/17: HW 07 Due at 4:00 PM 11/27: Team Meeting (7:00 PM) (Prepare for Final Presentation) 11/29: Final Presentations Due at 7:00 AM/All Data Due in class 11/29: Final Presentation 11/30: Team Meeting (6:00 PM) (Finish Video and Design Document Rev. D) 12/03: ITLL Design Expo (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM) 12/03: Design Document Rev. D/Team Videos Due at Judging 12/06: Hardware Turn-in 12/08: HW 08 Due 12/14: Final Exam (4:30 PM- 7:00 PM) Schedule

Equipment We have ordered items such as the servo/servo arm, arduino board, and petri dishes. We have most of these items in our possession. Also all items bought from Home Depot, such as chicken wire and springs, have already been purchased. Bacteria still needs to be ordered and will be ordered within the week. Two day shipping is required and the bacteria will stay inactive if stored in a refrigerator. After the bacteria arrive, all parts will have been ordered.

Expected Results We expect the bacteria sent up to not survive except for the encased in the petri dish protected from cold, the vacuum, and UV radiation. We also expect to be able to transport bacteria from the top of the flight path and be able to bring it back to Earth. Once here the bacteria will grow while being incubated.

Biggest Worries… o One of our biggest worries is being able to properly seperate the variables. Since we have to expose a petri dish to the UV and Cosmic radiation, we may run into problems involving temperature and the durability of the petri dish in a vacuum. o Another one of our worries is being able to get a solid vacuum seal on the petri dishes, seeing as an improper seal would invalidate all of our data.