THE MELODIES OF MATERIALS

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Ethan Lin and Carson Bove, student engineers at the University of Georgia (UGA) Small Satellite Research Laboratory (SSRL). Because of my work with the aerospace engineering club I lead at school, the Northview Aerospace Society, I thought I knew a solid amount about CubeSats and the process of sending satellites into space. However, this discussion taught me just as much about the countless critical steps that need to be taken before a satellite ever gets to the launch pad.

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SSRL, established in 2016 at UGA, provides undergraduate students with hands-on experience designing, building, testing, and operating small satellites. Ethan, a computer engineering major, is working in the lab with COSMO, the Center for Orbital Satellite Mission Operations. Carson, a mechanical engineering major, is more involved in research and design work. Together, they took us through what the process of actually building and executing a CubeSat mission would be like, an insightful takeaway for our club’s CubeSat initiative.

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Going from Theory to Reality

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CubeSats are miniature, standardized satellites that consist of units, or “U’s,” which are approximately 10x10x10 cm in size. Their small size can make them cheaper and quicker to develop than traditional satellites, but they’re not exactly that simple. 

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“We start with our sort of concept and design. So like any good science fair project, we’re trying to answer a hypothesis. So we come up with a research question . . . Then we move on to the fun stuff, which is, you know, all the modeling and all of the mechanical and thermal and electrical simulations,” said Carson.

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Then, it’s time for the design to survive the reality of outer space. The circuit board is soldered, the structure is built, and all subsystems are assembled into a single spacecraft. Once the assembly is finished, a long list of tests will be performed to verify that the satellite is able to face the launch and be functional in orbit.

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The Materials Science Side of Space

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While a satellite might be of manageable size for a desk, it is still subject to much harsher conditions. Structure has to be lightweight but resilient to endure launch vibration. Electronics must still perform reliably under variable temperatures, and materials have to be suitable for use in space as well as on Earth. SSRL uses equipment such as a thermal vacuum system, vibration table, air bearing, Helmholtz cage, and clinostat to test different aspects of spacecraft performance. The vibration table, for example, helps determine whether the satellite can withstand launch without shaking apart.

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Learning about these systems reminded me that materials science isn’t always about developing a brand new, never before seen material. Sometimes, it’s just about figuring out how components or materials react under extreme conditions and how they fit into the system, exactly like what I experimented with at Rice University.

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Missions That Cross Disciplines

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The missions of SSRL also demonstrated the incredible variety of disciplines that come together in aerospace engineering. SPOC, the first satellite from SSRL, launched in 2020 and studied the health of coastal ecosystems. MOCI is another project of SSRL that involves using imagery from orbit to generate 3D models of terrain. Carson also touched on NeuroCube, a conceptual CubeSat mission that combines engineering and biology to study neural cultures under spaceflight conditions.

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That last project was the one that caught my attention the most. When it comes to designing something like NeuroCube, the team has to go outside the satellite and conceive an environment that can maintain biological material within the confined volume of a CubeSat. 

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Aerospace can sometimes seem like an isolated field from the outside, focused on rocket, satellite, and computer work. SSRL proved to be the opposite. Its work can incorporate anything from geography to environmental science, biology, computing, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and much more. I also inquired about this interdisciplinarity and Ethan and Carson mentioned that each student would bring their own piece to the entire system. For instance, even though COSMO focuses on satellite communications and ground-station operations, its work brings together students working on programming, antennas, radio hardware, and mechanical systems.

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That idea struck a chord with what I find particularly interesting about materials science. Materials are seldom isolated from the rest of the world. Their mechanical properties, response to heat and electricity, processing, and the environment all influence the functionality of the final system.

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Learning By Doing

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We also discussed how students might start learning engineering software before college. Ethan mentioned tools like ANSYS and noted that to start by just using student versions, tutorials, and small projects. All of that, he told us, is learned through trial and error, and he made these tools feel much more approachable for high school students like us who want to begin experimenting.

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I appreciated this perspective because engineering can seem like a daunting profession to some, knowing that there is always the next program, the next machine, and the next idea that you have yet to encounter. Their words reinforced the notion that you don’t have to have it all figured out before you start. You learn by starting somewhere and working up to larger and more difficult problems.

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How to Balance Feasibility with Ambition

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One of the core questions for my own aerospace engineering club is how we can ensure that CubeSat, or even rocketry, mission ideas can remain feasible while still being ambitious. Ethan and Carson walked through what occurs when an engineering solution is overly ambitious.

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Carson mentioned that as teams realized what they cannot do because of constraints in time, resources, manufacturing, or design, they need to “come back down to realism.” Ethan echoed this with respect to software projects, which may need to be broken up into smaller, more manageable goals.

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What Makes SSRL Stand Out

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Lastly, I was curious what was different about SSRL, compared to opportunities in satellite research at other universities. Both Ethan and Carson highlighted undergraduate responsibility. Carson explained how freshmen can be in leadership and work on large portions of satellite design. Ethan said how the lab experience has given him the chance to try out different parts of spaceflight and develop as an engineer. This is what struck me most about SSRL: students don’t just observe engineers building and testing a satellite. They actually build and test satellites themselves and make real engineering choices, similar to what you would experience in both industry and academia.

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Final Thoughts

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Speaking with Carson and Ethan enhanced my understanding of how diverse and integrated aerospace engineering reality is. From structural testing to thermal analysis, communications, biological science, and materials behavior, every part of a small satellite ties together multiple disciplines of science and engineering. I want to thank Ethan Lin and Carson Bove again for graciously chatting and providing an insightful glimpse into the work they perform at UGA’s Small Satellite Research Laboratory.

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I look forward to continuing to explore how materials science connects with aerospace and learning more about the technologies that make space missions truly possible. But until dhin . . . stay upbeat, and stay tuned.