REU Site: Space and Tropospheric Weather Processing Using DotSat

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助的。该项目将使每年有10名本科生能够在新墨西哥大学(UNM)、现场可编程门阵列(FMAC)任务保障中心(FMAC)全年积极参与科学和工程研究，自提案提交以来，该中心已成为可配置空间微系统和应用中心(COSMIAC)。学生们将接触到各种学科的项目，从工程卫星系统到分析数据，以及进行空间和大气科学的科学研究。活动包括在设计、建造和持续测试和改进三套宽带可调谐甚高频(甚高频)接收器方面的实际经验，三个立方体卫星中的每一个能够a)测量闪电和电磁脉冲的人为来源，b)对来源进行高精度的地理定位(不到1公里)，以及c)提取有关地球电离层的信息。在UNM教职员工以及更广泛的FMAC(现为COSMIAC)联盟(包括空军研究实验室、洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室和桑迪亚国家实验室)的科学家的监督和指导下，学生将被要求设计完整的航天器，并定义如何控制星座飞行，如何发射和部署不寻常的电力系统，如何为主要任务开发、分析和测试传感器，以及如何通过重量/功率有限的链路传输大量数据。该项目旨在为学生提供进行空间研究项目的几乎所有方面的全面接触，以及与同学以及科学家和工程师并肩工作的合作体验，所有这些结合在一起，构成启动与空间有关的科学和技术职业的坚实基础。该项目不仅将招收新墨西哥州州立大学的学生，这是一所为少数族裔服务的机构，还将与附近的其他学校进行接触，包括新墨西哥矿业与技术学院和新墨西哥州立大学，所有这些学校都有大量少数族裔人口。此外，该项目正在特别努力招募少数族裔和代表性不足的群体加入该计划。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The project will enable ten undergraduate students per year to actively participate in scientific and engineering research throughout the year at the University of New Mexico (UNM), in the FPGA Mission Assurance Center (FMAC), which since the submission of the proposal has become the Configurable Space Microsystems and Applications Center (COSMIAC). The students will be exposed to projects across a variety of disciplines that range from engineering satellite systems to analyzing data and conducting scientific research in the space and atmospheric sciences. Activities include hands-on experience working on the design, construction, and continued testing and refining of sets of three broadband tunable VHF (very high frequencies) receivers, one for each of three CubeSats capable of a) measuring both lightning sferics and anthropogenic sources of electromagnetic pulses (EMP), b) geo-locating the sources to high accuracy (less than 1 km), and c) extracting information about the Earth's ionosphere. Under the supervision and instruction of UNM faculty as well as scientists from the broader FMAC (now COSMIAC) consortium, which includes the Air Force Research Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratory, all within close proximity, students will be required to design the complete spacecraft as well as define how constellation flight will be controlled, how an unusual power system can be launched and deployed, how sensors can be developed, analyzed and tested for the main mission, and how substantial quantities of data can be transmitted through a weight/power limited link. The project aims to provide the students comprehensive exposure to nearly all aspects of conducting a space research project coupled to the collaborative experience of working side-by-side with fellow students as well as scientists and engineers, all of which combines together to form a firm foundation on which to launch space related scientific and technical careers. The project will recruit students not only from UNM, which is a minority serving institution, but will also reach out to other near-by schools, including New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and New Mexico State University, all of which have large minority populations. In addition, the project is making a special effort to recruit minorities and underrepresented groups to the program.