Students prepare for liftoff

From idea to prototype to winning design to actual spacecraft, the FASTRAC satellite is about to take the next step in its journey into space. Next week, the 45-pound, student-designed satellite will be loaded on a truck to Albuquerque, N.M. to undergo the final stages of pre-launch testing.

Jamin Greenbaum, an aerospace engineering graduate student and student project manager for FASTRAC, is cautiously optimistic about the prospects for a fall launch date.

"We could be manifested as early as October," said Greenbaum. "That is assuming everything goes well this summer."

In the next few months, FASTRAC will be meticulously cleaned, subjected to extreme temperatures and tested on a vibration table in a process known as "shake and bake" testing. If all systems pass, the satellite will leave the earth in a process Greenbaum described as "hitchhiking" on the launch vehicle for the main Air Force satellite.

Once in space, the two-part Formation Autonomy Spacecraft with Thrust, Relnav, Attitude and Crosslink satellite will test technology never used before.

The satellite will use Global Positioning System technology to demonstrate how a grouping of satellites flying in tandem can outperform larger satellites.

"[Relative navigation] technology is really the most groundbreaking," said Greenbaum. "We're actually doing it before NASA."

FASTRAC also uses a new argon-based fuel, which makes the thruster safer and less expensive than traditional propulsion devices used on satellites. Greenbaum estimates that if successful, the technology could almost double the life of orbiting satellites.

New technology is not the only benefit of the FASTRAC project; students have had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with flight development and technology. Nimisha Mittal, an aerospace engineering junior, is taking advantage of the rare opportunity to be directly involved. "Doing anything is just a very good learning experience," Mittal said.

Associate professor Glenn Lightsey of the aerospace engineering department agrees about the value of the experience.

"The flying is great," said Lightsey, "But the process is the important thing."

When Lightsey began teaching at the University, he wanted to be sure that students were involved in the same type of process he experienced as a professional engineer at NASA. He helped to create a satellite hardware program to give students valuable hands-on experience for their future careers.

"A lot of universities won't even try it," said Lightsey of satellite design. "They think it is too hard and too expensive."

But it has been a success at UT, with FASTRAC about to fly and three other student-run projects currently in progress. Lightsey credits the success of the satellite design program to the students involved.

"The students drive this," said Lightsey. "They work long hours and are motivated. I'm very proud."

In the future, Lightsey said he hopes to involve even more students and to expand beyond the aerospace engineering department. "FASTRAC is just the first step," he said, "a building block for new technology." He said he hopes they will develop a new satellite every three to four years.

For now all the focus is on FASTRAC and its imminent departure from the University. The students and professors hope for the best and look forward to receiving messages from space from their own satellite soon.

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