''NUTS-1'' (NTNU Test Satellite) was a Norwegian 2U
CubeSat created by the NUTS student satellite project at the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
(NTNU). The
satellite was developed by students from several
engineering and science disciplines.
It was one of three CubeSats part of the Norwegian student space program ANSAT, the other two are the
CubeStar and the
HiNCube.
From NTNUs CubeSat projects NUTS-1 is a successor of the
nCube-1 and nCube-2 projects. The mission was stopped, and the small satellite activities are continued by the Orbit NTNU student organization and the HYPSO mission from NTNU Small Satellite Lab.
Specifications
The satellite is based on the standardized CubeSat dimensions made to fit into a specialized deployer. 2U or double means the satellite will be 2 standard cuboid units long. Outside dimensions are locked to the standards interface, but internal dimensions are created on a platform uniquely developed for the satellite. Electronics will be based on a non-standard backplane design, in contrast to common stacked
Printed Circuit Board
A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in Electrical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a L ...
designs.
Subsystems
The subsystems of NUTS-1 is in designed, constructed and built by the students in the projects, using few off the shelf parts. Commercially based single electronic components are used throughout the system. The satellite is structured into the subsystems below.
Structure
NUTS-1 is built with lightweight
fiber reinforced plastic
Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP; also called fibre-reinforced polymer, or in American English ''fiber'') is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass (in fibreglass), carbon (in carbon-fib ...
, to make frame and supporting structures as lightweight as possible. CubeSats are commonly built around an aerospace aluminum alloy, using polymers in space is challenging in relation to the effects of space on the material.
On Board Computer
The OBC system will use an Atmel AVR32 UC3 with access to external flash and RAM, running a
FreeRTOS lightweight operating system.
Communication
The NUTS antenna system will consist of a VHF and a UHF circular polarized
turnstile antenna. Communication will be done on standard ham radio bands.
Electric Power System
NUTS-1 will use high efficiency
solar cells covering 5 of 6 sides of the
satellite, the solar cells will charge a
battery-pack and supply power to the on-board
electronics.
Attitude Determination and Control system
NUTS-1
attitude determination and control system
Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle/satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, et ...
(ADCS) will consist of
magnetorquers A magnetorquer or magnetic torquer (also known as a torque rod) is a satellite system for attitude control, detumbling, and stabilization built from electromagnetic coils. The magnetorquer creates a magnetic dipole that interfaces with an ambient ma ...
, wound copper coil around each axis that will act relative to the magnetic field of the Earth. Gyros and magnetometers will be used in combination with the solar panels to calculate the orientation.
Payload
The satellite is planned to carry an IR-camera to capture images of atmospheric fluid
gravity waves
In fluid dynamics, gravity waves are waves generated in a fluid medium or at the interface between two media when the force of gravity or buoyancy tries to restore equilibrium. An example of such an interface is that between the atmosphere ...
.
A wireless bus is also implemented as a secondary payload for testing purposes.
Launch
The satellite was planned to be launched in a P-POD (Poly-pico orbital deployer) or a similar deployer as an auxiliary payload. The CubeSat was previously planned to be launched in 2016.
See also
*
List of CubeSats
References
External links
NUTS - Official websiteNUTS - NTNU presentation pageNUTS - Department of Electronics and telecommunication
{{Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
CubeSats
Satellites of Norway
