through NASA’s ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) Program, although, as of this writing, a launch date is not confirmed. According to Seager, plans call for the eventual launch of a fleet of nanosatellites to monitor individual stars. MIT student involvement in that project began in 2010 when Seager and Miller collaborated to offer a three-semester-long course that used the development of ExoplanetSat as its teaching method, offering it jointly to seniors in AeroAstro and EAPS in the Space Systems Engineering capstone class. The ExoplanetSat project is now more “mature” in its development, Seager says, so it is no longer Another collaborative project offered to undergraduates however, a number of graduate calls for building an X-ray imaging students are still involved. Lozano is involved in that project, focusing on developing propulsion systems for small satellites. He says the involvement of scientists in his endeavor has been valuable.
spectrometer to be deployed as part of the OSIRIS-REx NASA mission to asteroid 1999 RQ36, which may pose a threat to Earth.
“It’s been very useful for us in designing the requirements of our propulsion system because we know exactly what they need,” he says. “For example, in this particular application of looking for exosolar planets, we know exactly how much precision they need. That allows us to tailor the properties of our propulsion system to satisfy those requirements.”
Another collaborative project calls for building an X-ray imaging spectrometer to be deployed as part of the OSIRIS-REx NASA mission to asteroid 1999 RQ36, which may pose a threat to Earth when it passes close by in 2165. Dr. Rebecca Masterson runs the program, Miller is the PI, and EAPS Professor Richard Binzel is extensively involved in the project where students are building the spectrometer, the purpose of which is to provide X-ray spectra from different areas of the asteroid’s surface to determine elemental composition. The launch is set for 2016, with a return date in 2023.
When EAPS explores the cosmos, AeroAstro gets it there
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