An actuation fault in the aerobraking control system (ACS) took down Iowa State’s Nova Somnium rocket during 2019 Spaceport America Cup competition, prematurely ending team’s participation. The ACS engaged incorrectly before motor burnout, altering rocket’s trajectory and leading to a dangerous crash. ability detect this real time on-board ACS’s Arduino microcontroller would have prevented an u...

Abstract This paper addresses the development of an attitude determination and control system (ADCS) for a sounding rocket using thrust vector (TVC). To design ADCS, non-linear 6 degrees-of-freedom (DoF) model dynamics kinematics is deduced implemented in simulation environment. An optimal controller designed linear quadratic regulator (LQR) with additional integral action (LQI), relying on der...

A yo-yo-type wire-boom deployment system has been developed and flight tested on a sounding rocket mission. The goal of the work has been to validate a new mechanism that rapidly deploys wire booms from a spinning spacecraft. This work takes a theoretical system design and implements it in practical hardware. The limitations inherent in practical hardware necessitated new theoretical developmen...

This work describes an approach for the validation of a software system responsible for the destruction of the sounding rocket VS-40X. The process of validation uses three different techniques ranging from the automatic state exploration to the laborious failure analysis. The purpose of the exercise was to obtain diverse arguments in the provision of evidence that the safety properties of the s...

The Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) is a small, low-budget amateur aerospace group. PSAS is currently developing medium-sized sub-orbital rockets with the eventual goal of inserting nanosatellites (satellites that weigh less than 10 kg) into orbit. Because achieving orbit requires a navigation system able to guide the rocket along an orbital trajectory, PSAS is pioneering an open source...

The Hy-V project will conduct the first-ever mode-transition flight-test for a dual-mode hypersonic scramjet, which will occur at approximately 90,000 feet onboard a sounding rocket. At altitude, atmospheric conditions and inlet flow speed will match the flow conditions simulated in the UVA Aerospace Research Laboratory (ARL) hypersonic wind tunnel. Geometric similarity between the wind tunnel ...

A computer model of an Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometer based on a gas ionization chamber and on flight experience of the Optics Free Spectrometer (OFS previously flown), was built and tested with the SIMulation of IONs (SIMION) tools. Our goal in this work was to design an improved and simplified electron beam focusing system which fits the dimensions (D = 180 mm; L = 380 mm) available f...

Accurate knowledge about the distribution of atomic oxygen is crucial for many studies of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Direct measurements of atomic oxygen by the resonance fluorescence technique at 130 nm have been made from many sounding rocket payloads in the past. This measurement technique yields atomic oxygen profiles with good sensitivity and altitude resolution. However, accur...