NASA selects Penn State nanosatellite for launch
Aerospace engineering senior Andre Coleman Jr. serves as the thermal subsystems lead for the Penn State OSIRIS nanosatellite mission, slated to be launched by NASA between 2014 and 2016. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. A Penn State project is one of 24 small satellites selected by NASA to fly as auxiliary payloads planned for launch between 2014 and 2016, the agency recently announced. The tiny satellites, known as CubeSats, are 4 by 4 inches on each side, have a volume of approximately 1 quart and weigh less than 3 pounds. The nanosatellites are used for research, educational missions and technology demonstrations. Penn State's effort is called the Orbital Satellite for Investigating the Response of the Ionosphere to Stimulation and Space Weather, or OSIRIS-3U. Sven Bilén, head of the School of Engineering Design, Technology and Professional Programs and adviser to the Student Space Programs Laboratory (SSPL), said, "Being provided a launch opportunity for OSIRIS-3U is extremely rewarding. SSPL has always been focused on providing students with hands-on opportunities to learn space systems engineering, and launching our CubeSat and collecting data from it in space will be a rich learning experience for all involved." Tim Brubaker, a senior in electrical engineering and SSPL manager, explained, "The OSIRIS mission is an investigation into space weather phenomena. As our infrastructure becomes dependent on space-based systems such as satellites, space weather such as geomagnetic storms and solar flares are able to disrupt daily operations. What does this mean to people?
