Student Space Systems Fabrication Laboratory

Student Space Systems Fabrication Lab, College of Engineering, University of Michigan

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2006

1	11/03/06 MClimber team members had the opportunity to talk about experiences and lessons learned during the competition at the X-Prize Cup Space Elevator Games!
1	11/02/06 Chris Deline spent some time with the Conceptual Design Group team members talking about sizing of Power and Electrical systems.
1	10/27/06 Yang Li talks about "Configuration Management, Concept of Operations, and Trade Studies" during S3FL's seminar today.
1	10/20/06 Bogdan Oaida talks about "Risk Management and Practical Applications" for our programs in the laboratory during S3FL's seminar.
1	10/19/06 Students of the Conceptual Design Program during one of their weekly meetings. They have been going through engineering topics including budgets and trade studies formulation.
1	10/19/06 Cansat teams presented their design concepts as part of their Mission Definition Reviews.
1	10/18/06 S3FL students answered questions at the ASEE poster presentation, sponsored by Office of Undergraduate Education and CRLT-North.

October 2006 - S3FL's MClimber first team ever to climb to the top at Space Elevator Games, part of the X-Prize Cup in Albuquerque, NM.

Our MClimber made history as the first team to ever successfully reach the top of the ribbon (and descend by itself). The climb was made on the first day, when wind conditions made the 200-ft ribbon oscillate wildly, and all other teams opted not to go. Read full story here.

1	10/15/06 Members of the MClimber team assemble the full system prior to some of the ongoing testing.
1	10/13/06 Steve Sandoval talks about "Systems Engineering and Mission Objectives and Requirements". The talk was about definition, flowdown, and tracking requirements during this Friday seminar.
1	10/12/06 Chris Deline and other MClimber team members prepare for a solar cell panel characterization.

NASA honored former astronaut James (Jim) McDivitt for his involvement in the Gemini and Apollo space programs with the presentation of the Ambassador of Exploration Award. The ceremony was held in the Boeing Auditorium, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Building, University of Michigan, College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mr. McDivitt, a former astronaut with a few S3FL students.

McDivitt was the command pilot for Gemini 4 in 1965. He was commander of Apollo 9, a 10-day Earth orbital mission, launched March 3, 1969. This was the first flight of the complete set of Apollo hardware and the Lunar Module. In August 1969 he became manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program. He was program manager for Apollo 12 through 16. McDivitt's award will be displayed at the College of Engineering.

1	10/06/06 During this Friday seminar, Ricky R. gave a presentation of "Project Budgets and CanSat", in which he discussed various of the lessons learned from the previous Cansat program.
1	10/05/06 Students from the TSATT program have a Concurrent Design Meeting as part of the ongoing efforts to complete a proposal that will represent S3FL and UofM at the Nanosatellite 5 competition .
1	10/05/06 Students listen in to an Air Force representative that gave S3FL a special presentation about what they do, internships, job opportunities, etc.
1	10/05/06 Students talk about S3FL projects to visitors of the Wilson Student Project Center's Open House event tonight.

September 2006 - The Tether Re-entry Deceleration System (TREDS) project from S3FL wins 3rd place in AIAA competition!

Members of the TREDS team

From the official release for AIAA 2005/2006 Student Design Competition Winners:

“Reston, VA–The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of its 2005/2006 Student Design Competitions. Administered by AIAA’s Student Programs Department, these competitions are part of a wide-reaching program that recognizes excellence in aerospace engineering study at both the undergraduate and graduate level.”

The winners (by competition) are:

Undergraduate Team Space—New Decelerator System for Capsules Reentering from Deep Space

[…]

3rd Place—University of Michigan—Tethered Re-Entry Decelerator System (TREDS)

Nathan N. Meredith, Catlin Garcia, Gerasimos Houpis, Danny Lau, Colin Miranda, Shane Moore, Martin Pietraszkiewicz, Richard Prasad, Jeffrey Schloemer, David Williams

Faculty Advisors: Brian E. Gilchrist, Peter Washabaugh

Read full release here. Read about the TREDS project here.

1	9/29/06 During this Friday seminar Ashley Smetana talked about the C9 Microgravity Experiment Flight experience in Houston, Texas during the summer. Faculty Advisor Prof. Pete Washabaugh talked about the importance of recognizing some of the lessons learned during this time.
1	9/22/06 First S3FL Friday seminar. During the first S3FL seminar of the term, there was a brief overview of Standard Operating Procedures. Later Tom Liu presented a summary of the ASEE conference paper entitled "S3FL: AN APPROACH TO SPACE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING EDUCATION".
1	9/21/06 Mr. Ed Boesiger from Lockheed Martin gave S3FL students a special presentation about the company. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about LM, internships and what it takes to become a LM engineer.

9/19/06 Applications for Fall2006 are now closed.

S3FL C9 team flies in Houston! (Full story)

The U-M team takes first place in CanSat competition! (Full article)

Winning, pop can-sized satellite.

Winning pop can-sized satellite.

Location

The Student Space Systems Fabrication Laboratory (S3FL) is part of the University of Michigan College of Engineering, and is located within the Space Research Building in North Campus.

S3FL is affiliated with the following departments of the College of Engineering:
     Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences
     Aerospace Engineering
     Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

For more information, please contact our office (2028 Space Research Building, 2455 Hayward St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109) at 734.936.0511, or email s3fl-info at umich dot edu