Cajun Probe Conceptual Design Review University of Louisiana at Lafayette Mark Roberts 10.16.2009
Feb 17, 2016
Cajun ProbeConceptual Design Review
University of Louisiana at LafayetteMark Roberts
10.16.2009
Table of Contents
Mission Overview Narrative Expectations
Cosmic Rays Related Research
Mission Requirements Success & Benefits Design
Expected Results Canister Compliance
Shared Logistic Plan Management
Team Timeline
Mission OverviewObjectives
Design and implement a robust, compact payload to latter be integrated into a probe.
Develop improved Geiger Counter circuit.
Testing of payload’s durability and performance under space conditions.
Obtain and analyze data for a baseline of future experiments.
Mission Overview
Mission Overview
• Narrative
Expanding on RockOn 2008
GPSMore
Temperature SensorsLarger
Memory
Improved Geiger
Counter Circuit
Previous experiments have proven inconclusive with Geiger
Counter circuit.
Therefore, a more robust circuit and improved
Geiger-Muller tube is
necessary.
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations
Experiment Expectations
• Cosmic RadiationULL expects to quantify the cosmic radiation and analyze it’s relation to temperature(s) and pressure.
• Further Development of ProbeAgain, this phase of the project is just a step towards ULL’s ultimate goal which is to develop a extremely robust probe to be launched into thunderstorms.
• Finally have an Improved Geiger CounterCircuit that is robust enough to operate efficiently and properly in harsh environments.
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays
Cosmic Rays (CRs)Discovered by Victor Hess in 1912
Electrically charged particles that bombard Earth where the flux of the CRs will be different at different latitudes &
altitudes.
CRs led to the discovery of the first muon and pion, however the main focus of cosmic ray research is where they originate and how they are accelerated to such high velocities—their role in the dynamics of the Galaxy.
It is believed that CRs originate from outside our galaxy from active galactic nuclei, quasars, or gamma ray bursts.
Another belief is that galactic CR’s derive their energy from supernovaexplosions and evidence exists to suggest that CR’s are accelerated as the shock waves from these explosions, traveling through interstellar gas where the energy contributed to the Galaxy by the CRs is about that contained in galactic magnetic fields and in the thermal energy of the gas that it passes through.
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays
When high energy cosmic rays collide with the atoms in Earth’s atmosphere a shower
of secondary particles are produced, correspondingly the frequency of particles reaching Earth’s surface is directly related to the energy of the cosmic ray(s) which can be measured with a Geiger counter.
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research
2006 2007 2009
Payload Size10 x 10 x 10
cm23.3 x 23.3 x
4.7 cmMass 500 g 1.590 kg
Construction
Foam box with
lightweight wood and
plastic structure
RockOn Canister
3 kg latex sounding balloon(12 lb
payload)
Number of Participants
Few Louisiana
universities and colleges
4 universities 8 universities several several
Research Topic
Geiger counter kit with BASIC
stamp controller
Film-based cosmic ray detector
(aluminum)
Film-based cosmic ray
detector with added OSL-
based dosimeters
Improved Geiger
counter kit
Sounding Rocket
Payload
Launch Date 25-May-05 4-Sep-06 2-Sep-07 11-Sep-09 27-Jun-08
Launch Location
NASA CSBF, Palestine, TX
NASA Wallops
Flight Facility, Virgina
Altitude 108,500 ft 122,300 ft 123,000 ft 122,000 ft 206,692 ftFloat Time Few minutes 14 hrs 16 hrs 15 hrs ≈ 15 min
10 kg
Metal structural frame and container
RockOnItem LaACESHASP
15 x 14 x 14 cm
Balloon11 million cubic feet research balloon
(2,000 lb payload)
NASA CSBF, Fort Sumner, NM
Modified Orion Rocket
Related Research
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research
T-MAT H°600 film showing cosmic ray
tracks
High Energy Particles (E > 250 MeV) Low Energy Particles (E ≤ 250 MeV)
Measured fluence of high & low energy protons & electrons
OSL Badges
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements
Requirement Method Status
RBF Pin Design/Test GO
Volume Constraints Design/Test
Weight Constraints Design/Test
Shock Constraints Design/Test
Thermodynamic Protection Design/Test
Electronic Noise Protection Design/Test
Mission Objectives Design/Test
Mission Requirements
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits
Success & BenefitsSuccess for this mission is dependent on the performance
of the Geiger counter. That is, an accurate measure of the total flux of the cosmic rays with respect to altitude.
• Comparison of data and efficiency with previous cosmic ray measurements made with film and OSL badges.
• UL Lafayette having an optimized Geiger circuit that will be integrated into future experiments and into our own High Power Rockets.
• The optimized Geiger circuit will be developed into a kit and function as an introduction to Balloon & Sounding Rocket payloads to undergraduates and possibly used as an outreach program as well.
AVRMicrocontrollerZ
Accelerometer
X/YAccelerometer
Temperature & Pressure Sensor
GPS
Geiger Circuit
G-switch
Flash Memory
RBF
Power Sub-system
4 channel
ADC
Port Sensors
BatteriesLithium 9 Volt
AVRPCB
PowerData
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design
Functional Block Diagram
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design
Geiger Counter Circuit
Geiger-Muller Tube
Tube SpecificationsGas Filling Ne + HalogenCathode Material 446 StainlessMax Length (inch) 7Max Diameter (inch) 1.5Connector BNCOperating Temp (°C) -40Areal Density (mG/cm2) 1.5-2.0Effective Diameter (inch) 1.13Material MicaOperating Voltage (Volts) 500Gamma Sensitivity Co60 (CPS/MR/HR)
100
Weights (grams) 200
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design
Schematic of RockOn 2008 AVR Board
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design
Temperature Sensor
GPSTrimble Lassen
iQ module
External port for atmospheric
measurements
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design•Expected Results
Expected Results
Comparison of data and efficiency with previous cosmic ray measurements made with film and OSL badges.
UL Lafayette having an optimized Geiger circuit will be integrated into a sub-system of a Probe that will be launch over and into thunderstorms in hopes to see if
A. Thunderstorms emit gamma radiation andB. For the probe to collect vertical slices of the
thunderstorm so it can be properly modeled and analyzed in hopes to further understand this phenomena and to reduce error in modeling.
Relevance
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design•Expected Results•Canister Compliance
Type of Restriction Restriction StatusMass Allotment ≈ 2 Kg Volume allotment 1/3
Payload's center of gravity 1''x 1''x 1'' envelope
Wallops No-Volt Compliance Structure Mounts Sharing Yes
Canister Compliance
Payload will only activate if and only if the following conditions have been satisfied:
1. RBF Pin has been shorted.2. A vertical acceleration has engaged the
G-switch for a finite amount of time.Only at this time will the payload become
active and consume current.
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design•Expected Results•Canister Compliance•Logistics of Shared Canister
Logistics of Shared Canister
UL LafayetteMass Allotment ≈ 2 Kg Port
requestedVolume allotment 1/3West Virginia University
Mass Allotment ? Port requestedVolume allotment 1/5
Temple UniversityMass allotment ? ?Volume allotment ?
UL Lafayette Expansion of RockOn 2008 with improved Geiger Counter, GPS, and other modifications.
West VirginiaMulti-Instrumental payload measuring Ionosphere density, the magnetic field, and ambient temperature.
TemplePayload consists of a vibration isolation (damping) mechanism.
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design•Expected Results•Canister Compliance•Logistics of Shared Canister•Management
Andy Hollermansuperivsor
Mark RobertsGraduate Student
Compact Payload
Design
Build
Integrate
Test
Programming
Design
Implementation
Documentation
Presentations
Team Management
Mission Overview
•Narrative• Expectations•Cosmic Rays• Related Research•Mission Requirements•Success & Benefits•Design•Expected Results•Canister Compliance•Logistics of Shared Canister•Management
Timeline for project completion