Designing Mars Missions for the Utilization of Rotorcraft

Following the technical demonstration of the Mars Helicopter on the Mars 2020 mission, interest in further exploration of Mars utilizing rotorcraft is expected to increase. Previously, scientific exploration has been limited by the resolution of instruments on satellites and the terrain a rover can traverse. Rotorcraft enable exploration in previously inaccessible locations with increased efficiency compared to rovers and improved resolution (compared to satellites). This paper describes missions designed to utilize the unique capabilities of rotorcraft in order to advance the science performed extraterrestrially. For Mars this includes tasks such as determining if Mars ever supported life, understanding climate processes and history, determining the evolution of Martian geology, and preparing for human exploration. The missions fall into three general categories: rover assistance, sample collection, and data collection. Complimentary conceptvehicles are also discussed. This paper is meant to serve as a reference, resource, and starting point for the future exploration of Mars with rotorcraft.

A Search for Submillimeter Galaxy Counterparts

In this paper, we look to find counterparts to our 450µm sources found in our SCUBA-2 imaging of the Chandra Deep Field – South (CDF-S). We chose sources greater than 4σ and found 21 sources. We then matched the sources to a published 850µm ALMA catalog. We matched the sources within a 4 arcsecond radius and found 12 matches to our 450µm sources. Using the fluxes from the SCUBA-2 CDF-S map and the ALMA 850µm fluxes from the catalog. We created a 450µm to 850µm flux ratio versus redshift plotted against an Arp220 spectral energy distribution (SED) at varying temperatures.

2019 WSGC Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition

The Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition is held by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association every year at Spaceport America, New Mexico. The competition has many categories, and Pioneer Rocketry chose to compete in the 10k COTS category, flying Something Cheesy to an altitude of 10,000 feet on a commercial motor, with a 4 Kg payload. The payload studied the breakdown voltage of air with respect to altitude. Pioneer Rocketry is proud to report that Something Cheesy had a safe and successful flight and recovery. Unfortunately, due to a motor anomaly, Something Cheesy flew short of its 10,000-foot goal. The team is proud to have represented the state of Wisconsin at this international event, winning the “Cheesiest Rocket” award, as well as being runner up for the spirit award.

Chasing down variable stars from a decade-long dataset

Finding and characterizing variable stars is at the heart of a relatively modern branch of astronomy named time-domain astrophysics. Variable Stars are ordinary stars that change in brightness on widely varying degrees. Characterizing the details of how this brightness fluctuates and on what timescales, as well as the star's average properties (mean brightness, temperature, etc.), is greatly important to understanding the process of stellar evolution. For this project, we use data over ten years from the 0.5 meter Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope. We will develop tools that can identify several variable stars, estimate their variability periods and timescales, and determine the shape of their brightness variations over this time.

Spectral Density Method of Liquid Propellant Gauging

My summer internship experience with NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Advanced Engineering Development Branch focused on collecting and processing data to aid in developing Modal Propellant Gauging (MPG) for use in future Orion/SLS missions. The MPG project is an effort to develop a non-invasive low-cost propellant mass gauging technology for application to existing spacecraft propellant tanks in both low-gravity and earth-loading applications. During my internship I constructed a fuel gauging framework through characterizing the modal signature of a composite-overwrap liquid propellant tank used for testing purposes. I accomplished this through: writing and implementing algorithms that apply broadband white noise signals to piezoelectric actuators adhered to the tank surface, processing acoustic data using Fourier analysis, and producing frequency response functions to experimentally determine resonant modes of the tank structure. A limitation of the current MPG technique is that it does not work in environments with changing pressure; during my internship I also made fundamental contributions to the development of the Spectral Density Propellant Gauging Method, a technique that does not depend on the stiffness of the tank walls.

2019 Elijah High Altitude Balloon Payload: Electronic Failure at Altitude, Applications of Turbulence and Sonification of Data

The 2019 WSGC Elijah High-Altitude Balloon Payload Fellowship focused on 4 high-altitude phenomena: Modular Payload Design, Applications of Air Turbulence (power generation and visualization), Electronic Behavior at Altitude, and Sonification of Atmospheric Data. Modular payload design focused on user-accessibility by creating friction-reducing rings in-between insulation and the instrumentation capsule. Height-adjustable, modular shelving was also constructed. Turbulence and Electronics project both suffered data loss during flight. However, post-flight lab analysis showed the power generation apparatus produced 96J – 120J and turbulence visualization’s potential to assist in calculating Eddie dissipation rates. Additionally, Electronic Behavior observed corona discharges across large electrical gaps near-vacuum pressures. Sonification of Data used computer algorithms to transcribe data relationships into music. The intent was to allow users to perceive data relationships and patterns aurally.

Calibration and Beam-Mapping Techniques for the Tianlai Pathfinder Dish Array

Hydrogen intensity mapping is a promising technique to measuring large-scale structure. By detecting the integrated emission of the 21cm HI signal from many galaxies simultaneously, astronomers can survey larger volumes of the universe than ever before. However, systematics related to foreground subtraction, variable antenna beam patterns, and calibration must be overcome before maps can be made of the 21cm signal. The Tianlai Pathfinder array, a first-generation hydrogen intensity mapping experiment, is being constructed in order to practice and demonstrate our ability to overcome these challenges. We demonstrate two methods, delay-delay rate filtering and point source calibration, in order to understand the systematics of the Tianlai instrument. The methods used here will be used to help demonstrate the feasibility of full-scale hydrogen intensity mapping experiments, while contributing to the experimental toolset used for such experiments.

The Evolution and Growth of Nearby Galaxy Groups

To determine how galaxy groups grow and individual galaxies evolve in the local universe, this project used 19 high-richness, high-mass galaxy groups at z < 0.1 from the Berlind et al. 2006 paper to study the nearby group environment through its optical properties. Using position, g-r color, and r-band absolute magnitude data, the shapes, luminosities, and colors of each member galaxy was mapped in group combination plots and an inter-group color-magnitude diagram of all 477 sample galaxies. These figures show that members of the high-mass group environment trend towards redness where the most luminous members of each galaxy group are found to be red. Both findings are consistent with previous predictions of the group environment’s bias towards red elliptical galaxies. Future work using optical properties and the galaxy sequence will be crucial to identify galaxies in groups undergoing evolutionary change as potential indicators of a changing group environment.