CATSAT Update

by Frank Hludik

We have written articles about the Cooperative Astrophysics and Technology SATellite (CATSAT) in the past two issues of Signals and Noise. We are happy to report that the excitement of CATSAT continues as the project nears its completion and launch dates. The project is entering a new era as students graduate and leave the project for engineering careers, as the development phases turn into the testing and verification phases, and as preparations are being made for the purchase of ground support equipment.

The four primary ECE graduate students who have been with the project since its infancy all graduated this year. Glen Forrest graduated in September of 1996 and went on to work at Allegro Corporation. Glen focused on the characterization of the avalanche photo diode (APD) detectors, also know as the soft x-ray detectors. Steve Lynch graduated in May of 1997 and is working for Digital Equipment Corporation. Steve designed the analog instrumentation for the APDs and the other x-ray detector systems. David Geary graduated in May of 1997 and is also working at Digital Equipment Corporation. David designed the gain control and data acquisition subsystems for the four detector systems. Dino Milani also graduated in May of 1997 and is working for Raytheon Corporation. Dino led the group that designed the digital electronics unit and he designed the central processing board. Jon Frain, who was known as Mr. PCB, started with the CATSAT project when he was a sophomore. He received his Bachelors degree this spring and left CATSAT to work on his graduate degree in EE. Jon designed the PCBs for the CPU, backplanes, and the gain control and data acquisition system, and designed the extended memory boards. We wish these outstanding students the best in their careers and whatever life brings their way. When we think of CATSAT, we will always remember Glen, Dave, Steve, Dino, and Jon.

The launch date, which was originally set for summer of 1998, has been postponed until spring of 1999. This postponement is due to the launcher schedule and not the progress of CATSAT development. The postponement will allow the project to conduct extra testing and verification of the satellite’s subsystems and software. The final two digital subsystems are nearing completion and the software is in the integration and verification phases. Flight quality boards will be scheduled for production, testing, and storage. Hardware subsystems will undergo thermal vacuum, vibration, and radiation testing. Students are testing power supplies, designing the power and ground interconnect system, and performing power noise sensitivity analysis. Plans are under way for the integration and testing/verification procedures for all analog and digital subsystems and the software operating system. ECE students currently working on CATSAT include Ryan Rousseau, Jeff Butler, Joel Mellin, Brian King, Paul Wheeler, John English, Mike Sandiford, John Cunningham, Peter Bick, Matt Funke and Wyatt Bora. These students are experiencing the era of integration, testing, and verification. These phases of development are crucial to the success of any project/product and are not usually addressed in depth in EE undergraduate curriculums. Through the CATSAT project, students will participate in both the planning and implementation stages of project testing and verification. They will gain hands-on experience that hopefully will influence the way they develop our products of the future. As one NASA engineer who was interviewed on CSPAN said when asked why the Pathfinder mission was so successful, "we tested, tested, tested, and tested more - and never stopped improving our project."

The ground support equipment, which includes a UHF/VHF transceiver, an S-band receiver, and tracking antennas, will hopefully be operational by the beginning of next semester. The UHF/VHF transceiver will be used for a 9600-BAUD command and control link to the satellite, while the S-band receiver will be used to receive the two mega-bit data stream, which contains the science data for the mission. Orbital prediction software, which can predict satellite orbits, position, and down link times, is being used to determine the type of communication systems that will be needed. Communication systems will be located in the Small Satellite Laboratory in Morse Hall. During the fall semester students will be trained to use the equipment and will practice receiving information from amateur radio and weather satellites.

One of the educational benefits of working on the CATSAT project is the chance for students to work on a multi-disciplinary and multi-institution team, where collaboration is essential for success. ECE students work along side mechanical engineering students who are designing parts of the spacecraft frame and electronic enclosures, physics students who are testing and classifying the sensor systems, computer science students who are developing the operating system, and business students who are working with CATSAT management. Students must communicate with Weber State University and the University of Leicester to insure that subsystems will integrate and function properly. They experience firsthand the importance of team communications, good documentation, personal relationships, and cooperation.

If you would like additional information about the CATSAT project you can access our WWW page http://www.catsat.sr.unh.edu/ or drop me a note. Otherwise, we will continue with the tradition of CATSAT updates in next year’s issue of Signals and Noise.