STHURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 11A
KU engineers to launch miniature cube satellites
By Peter Van Auken
editor@kansan.com
Special to the Kansan
A University of Kansas team of engineering students plans to launch mini-satellites into space in late 2004. The 4-inch cube satellites, called CubeSats, will be KU's first spacecraft to be designed, built and launched.
The CubeSats program is pamed KUTESats, an acronym for KU Technology and Evaluation Satellites. They will be produced as a joint effort of the Aerospace Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments.
Trevor Sorensen, associate professor of aerospace engineering and adviser to the project, first heard about CubeSats in August 2001. He said he did not have a good scientific objective for starting a program at the University until last winter when Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA organization, invited the University to join its solar sail team.
"One of their needs was the development of small inspection probes to be carried by the mother ship, and this led to using CubeSats for developing prototypes," he said.
Sorensen said the two goals of the project were to bring the capability to build and fly satellites to KU and give astronautical engineers some practical experience to complement their class work.
"The satellites have tremendous teaching value because they can be designed and built in one year." Sorensen said.
Marco Villa, Italy aerospace engineering doctoral student, is project manager for the program. Graduate students head up each
of the six teams involved, which have 20 undergraduate students.
"Until now, very few universities have ventured into actual satellite building," Villa said. "But the idea is rapidly expanding outside the U.S."
The first part of the project, which began in June, is a development of KU's first satellite in the KUTESats series: The Pathfinder.
The aluminum-alloy shelled mini-satellite will weigh a little more than 2 pounds and have its own power supply and two-way communications system. Initially, the satellite will be used to measure radiation in space and produce images from a miniature camera.
Once deployed, Villa said he hoped the satellite would remain operative in Earth's orbit for three to four years and would be used as tool to train students and provide information for the next group of KUTESats.
"Right now we are midway through the design and development stage," Villa said. "It is very challenging to fit so much technology into a 10 centimeter cube."
Future launches will use satellites to inspect solar sails of larger spacecraft for damages and to collect images and environmental data for 3-D mapping of the planet Mars' atmosphere.
Umakanth Goud, Gadwal India graduate student in aerospace engineering, is developing a CubeSats propulsion and orientation control system for his thesis. He said the system was the smallest of its kind.
"The thrusters are the width of an ink pen." Goud said.
The system is based on miniature thrusters, which will allow 360-degree maneuverability of
the satellite after deployment.
Even though the entire project will take years, Villa said the time and effort would be worth it.
"The greatest payback will come at the end of the project." Villa said. "I'll be able to say there is a piece of myself in orbit around Earth."
While the program has no official budget yet, Sorensen has been promised some Kansas Space Grant Consortium funding as well as enthusiasm from different companies in the space industry such as JPL, Honeywell, Swales Aerospace and Lockheed-Martin.
Villa said the cost of launching a single CubeSat was around $50,000. Putting the CubeSats into space is relatively inexpensive because they are piggybacked onto a launch that already has been purchased, he said.
"In the world of space, CubeSats are very cheap but still expensive for a university," Villa said. "This means we must look hard for outside donations."
In addition to launch costs, the project also requires $20,000 for production of the satellite and its ground control system.
Villa said an important part of the project was developing a strong space interest at the University as well as in the state. The team plans to collaborate with the American Astronautical Society to promote the space program to Kansas high school students next year.
"Right now, Earth has a limited amount of resources." Villa said. "Space exploration is important because it offers solutions to our future problems."
- Edited by Amanda Sears
The Associated Press
OPEC orders less pumping
VIENNA, Austria — Despite an oil industry strike in Venezuela and preparations for war in the Gulf, several OPEC oil ministers said yesterday the cartel must pump less oil or risk a collapse in crude prices next spring.
Delegates of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fear that excess production by some member nations might undermine the group's goal of keeping prices at around $25 a barrel.
"We are very worried," said Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri, oil minister for the United Arab Emirates, as he arrived at a hotel in Vienna.
OPEC delegates met informally to discuss production for
the coming months, ahead of a formal session planned for today at the group's headquarters in the Austrian capital.
OPEC, which produces about one-third of the world's oil, has an output target of 21.7 million barrels a day. Some members tried to cash in on high prices by boosting output this autumn, and many analysts say the group now exceeds its target by about 12 percent, or 2.5 million barrels a day.
"There's more than enough oil on the market," said Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiya.
OPEC must curb production "especially in the second quarter" of next year, he said, when demand for home heating oil tends to decline with the
warmer springtime weather in major importing nations of the Northern Hemisphere.
As they try to assess the supply and demand for oil, OPEC delegates also must consider the impact of a national strike in member state Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter. The strike, which entered its 10th day Wednesday, has paralyzed oil shipments from the country.
Turmoil in Venezuela has compounded uncertainty about the impact a U.S.-led military attack might have on crude production in Iraq.
January contracts of light, sweet U.S. crude slipped 9 cents a barrel to $27.65 in afternoon trading in New York, after jumping 55 cents Tuesday.
Activists' abandon party
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Two peace activists abandoned the Labor Party for a new alliance yesterday, sharpening the debate over how to make peace with Palestinians.
Yossi Beilin, an architect of the interim Israel-Palestinian peace accords in the mid-1990s, and Yael Dayan, daughter of war hero and Labor Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, joined forces with Meretz, a smaller, more dovish bloc with a liberal social platform.
The two were angered they were not among Labor's top candidates for parliament.
Both Israel and Palestinians are planning elections in January, but Palestinians said theirs
will probably have to be postponed because Israeli military operations make it impossible to organize them. The Israeli military controls most West Bank population centers.
Israel and the United States have been pushing for the election, insisting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat be replaced or sidelined.
But Ali Jarbawi, head of the Palestinian election preparations committee, said the panel would meet next week to recommend Arafat delay the Jan. 20 vote.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, kept up its pressure in the West Bank, fatally shooting a suspected militant in one refugee camp and spiriting away two others in another.
Arafat and the Palestinians
are the focus of Israel's election campaign as the parties choose candidates for parliament. The vote is scheduled for Jan. 28.
In a primary election Monday, Labor Party members dumped Beilin and Dayan from the top of their list, even though they recently selected a dove, Amram Mitzna, as leader.
That led the two to Meretz, where they will be top candidates. Meretz won 10 seats in the last election.
In a statement, Beilin said he hoped to strengthen the peace camp in Israel.
The exit of the two most prominent peace advocates from Labor buttressed the prospect of another "national unity" government, or one with a wider perspective of political views.
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12/8/02
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