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资助的（公法111-5）。该项目将使每年10名本科生全年积极参与新墨西哥州大学（UNM）的科学和工程研究，在FPGA使命保证中心（FMAC），自提交提案以来，该中心已成为可配置空间微系统和应用中心（COSMIAC）。 学生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在空间和大气科学中进行科学研究。活动包括动手经验的设计，施工，并继续测试和完善三套宽带可调谐甚高频工作（甚高频）接收器，三个立方体卫星各一个，能够a）测量闪电天电和电磁脉冲（EMP）人为源，B）高精度地定位源（小于1公里），以及c）提取关于地球电离层的信息。在UNM教师以及更广泛的FMAC科学家的监督和指导下，（现在的COSMIAC）财团，其中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，都在附近，学生将被要求设计完整的航天器，以及定义如何星座飞行将被控制，如何一个不寻常的动力系统可以发射和部署，如何为主要使命开发、分析和测试传感器，以及如何通过重量/功率受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，再加上与同学以及科学家和工程师并肩工作的合作经验，所有这些结合在一起，形成一个坚实的基础，在此基础上启动空间相关的科学和技术职业。该项目不仅将从为少数民族服务的新墨西哥大学招收学生，而且还将接触附近的其他学校，包括新墨西哥州采矿和技术学院和新墨西哥州州立大学，所有这些学校都有大量少数民族人口。此外，该项目正在作出特别努力，招募少数民族和代表性不足的群体参加该方案。

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.