Friday, May 4, 2007
If everything goes as planned next Saturday, a Mars Lander prototype will fall 500 feet from a helium-filled balloon by parachute, fire three simple model rocket engines to slow its decent and softly land upright at a Clinton Lake radio control airfield.
Then the Lander’s ramp will open, an American flag will flip up and a small rover will creep out that will image the terrain with its two attached cameras.
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It’s so complicated on the first attempt that I don’t think everything will go as planned. The more we test, the more chance at success we have.
-Trevor Sorensen, associate professor of aerospace engineering
Ben Parrott, Overland Park senior and systems engineer for the Mars Trekker project, said the endeavor received skepticism from some professors, but the team of students remained optimistic during the venture.
The Lander, planned, designed and constructed by University of Kansas engineering students, began development in September 2006.
“None of us had done anything like this, a project of this magnitude,” he said.
The team, Simulated Operational Lander And Rover Integrated System (SOLARIS), is composed of 16 aerospace engineering students including two graduate students. Parrott said the close-knit group worked on the six-pound Lander with a $2,500 budget as a two-semester Space Systems Design class project.
“With the workload, it’s tough to have fun,” Parrott said, “but we try.”
Trevor Sorensen, associate professor of aerospace engineering, has been teaching and guiding the students in what he calls a “very complicated mission.”
He said the Lander was a demonstration of concepts and techniques that could be used on a real Mars Lander.
“I still have concerns about the whole project,” Sorensen said. “It’s so complicated on the first attempt that I don’t think everything will go as planned. The more we test, the more chance at success we have.”
Elizabeth Gregory, Topeka senior who is mission control director and ground station lead engineer, said the biggest technical holdups were the onboard computer system and software development.
“I think it’s really ambitious,” she said, “but everyone’s really proud working on it.”
The original launch date was scheduled for this Saturday. However, Parrott said because of rain, wind and various snags in Lander production hampering tests this week, the test was rescheduled for next week.
A final version of the Lander hasn’t been constructed yet, he said. The team has been testing the parachute, structure and rockets with a practice Lander in the Lied Center parking lot this week.
The final version of the Lander will include sensors that calculate decent rate, temperature and altitude.
If the Lander has a successful soft landing and the rover drives itself, images the terrain and the Lander’s American flag, Parrott said he would consider the eight-month project mission accomplished. But it’s more than a successful mission that makes the project worthwhile, he said.
“We’ve all learned so much from it already. Even the experience has been a success,” he said.
Kansan staff writer Brian Lewis-Jones can be contacted at bljones@kansan.com.
— Edited by Trevan McGee
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