M S P A C M E M S

Background

MS PAC MEMS (Micro-Satellite Propulsion and Attitude Control with MicroElectroMechanical Systems) is a project done for the Aerospace Senior Design course at the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 1998-99 academic year.

People

Students involved in the MS PAC MEMS project:

Josh Caldwell, Senior, Electrical Engineering
Dave Imboden, Senior, Aerospace Engineering
Jessica Pezzella, Senior, Aerospace Engineering
Sandy Pitzak, Senior, Aerospace Engineering

Advising on the project is Tim Straube, a Ph.D. candidate who works at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.

Experiment

Since these microthrusters will hopefully one day fly in space, we wanted to test our project in a weightless environment.

We sent in a proposal to fly on NASA's KC-135 airplane, also known as the Vomit Comet, through the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program. Our proposal was one of 44 projects that flew in March 1999.

As part of the program, we spent two weeks in Houston, much of it working with Pyrotechnics Engineers at Johnson Space Center.

More about the trip

Acknowledgements

The team would like to thank:

John Sunkel, our instructor who helped us immensely in finding resources and funding
The Pyrotechnics Group at JSC
CU's Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Everyone involved in the RGSFO program
CU's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program