1. Atmospheric Re-Entry
Goal: To re-enter the CubeSat into the atmosphere and survive re-entry and hit the ground without any deceleration from parachute, the main deceleration will be in the upper atmosphere
Have the International Space Station launch a cube satellite into low earth orbit
CubeSat will hit the ground and the structure will be designed to absorb the impact energy from landing, 150 – 270 g’s
Heat Shield will be a carbon phenolic in form of half sphere, design is in process
Developing MATLAB/Simulink code to create 2-D trajectory simulation and observe heat flux, heat load, entry velocity, rough landing point
Using STK 11 for orbital simulation to indicate re-enter position, roughly 110 km (68 miles) from the earth’s surface
Data will be used for optimum heat shield design
Future Goals: To perform experiment on CubeSat and atmospherically re-enter it so the payload (experiment) can be examined in a laboratory