{"425761":{"#nid":"425761","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Prof. David Spencer\u0027s Prox-1 project is getting ready to launch","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch conducted by AE professor David Spencer is getting ready to blast off.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELiterally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the principal investigator for the Prox-1 mission, Spencer anticipates the launch of a Georgia Tech-designed spacecraft (and an attached CubeSat) sometime within the next 18 months. Both components will be part of the multi-satellite payload launched by SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProx-1 will be the first spacecraft built by Georgia Tech to be launched into space,\u201d said Spencer, who served as a mission designer for the Mars Pathfinder during nearly 2 decades with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve built components before, but this is a Georgia Tech vehicle.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearched and tested by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/spencer.ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESpencer\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and his students in AE\u2019s Space Systems Design Laboratory (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ssdl.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESSDL\u003C\/a\u003E),\u0026nbsp; the Prox-1 spacecraft was chosen for the launch by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research\u2019s University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) during a system integration competition last year. The SSDL design trumped a field of 11 competitors.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003ESpencer will join Air\u0026nbsp;Force officials at Kennedy Space Center when Prox-1 hitches a ride on the Falcon Heavy rocket sometime in 2016. And his team at Georgia Tech will be overseeing mission operations when Prox-1 is deployed and the LightSail is launched. But right now, everyone\u2019s attention is focused on fine-tuning the satellites\u2019 components while they are on the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProx-1 is being built here on campus. We have everything except the propulsion units and the power distribution systems, so we\u2019re testing other things, like structure, torque rods this summer. In the fall, it\u2019ll look more like a spacecraft.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat spacecraft will be small -- approximately 50cm x 50cm x 30cm \u2013 and will carry an even smaller micro-satellite (\u201cCubeSat\u201d) called the LightSail which will be launched from, and followed by, Prox-1. Once launched, the tiny nano-satellite will itself deploy a 32-square-meter solar energy-absorbing \u201csail\u201d designed to power the vehicle during its flight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProx-1 will re-locate LightSail and determine its orbit using infrared imaging. It will then follow the satellite from a relatively short distance --100 to 150 meters. Spencer says successful demonstration of concept on this mission will greatly benefit future space travel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf we can accurately control one spacecraft\u2019s trajectory relative to another, we can do on-orbit inspections of other spacecraft. This would be great when we launch Orion. We\u2019ll be able to use CubeSats to inspect it for micro-meteor impacts,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAnd the use of passive imaging is of great interest to the Air Force Research Lab. In the past, they\u2019ve use LIDAR and RADAR, but this will really lower the cost if we can successfully demonstrate it.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EFind out more about Prox-1 in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/youtu.be\/eGa2ROpUKE8\u0022\u003Ethis video\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EProf. David Spencer\u0027s work on the $1.2 million Prox-1 project has been supported, in part, by a $220,000 grant from the Air Force\u0026nbsp;Office of Scientific Research through the University Nanosat Program.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research conducted by AE professor David Spencer is getting ready to blast off.  Literally."}],"uid":"27456","created_gmt":"2015-07-16 13:41:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:08","author":"Britanny Grace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"98181","name":"David Spencer"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["communications@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}