One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for AUSSP
Auburn University is often jokingly called a cow college because of its extensive roots in agriculture. Not many people know that Auburn’s physics and engineering departments are highly acclaimed by NASA and other space engineering organizations. One campus group that is making quite a name for itself is the Auburn University Student Space Program (AUSSP).
The organization is funded by a NASA grant is recognized by space engineering organizations such as NASA and Boeing as a “premier student-led space organization.”
According to the Web site, www.space.auburn.edu, AUSSP is “a student-led, faculty-mentored program to design, build, launch, and operate spacecraft. Participants launch high-altitude balloons to the edge of space to test engineering and science instruments, they build small satellites that orbit Earth, and they are working with other universities on missions to the moon and Mars.�
AUSSP is currently working on two projects. The first is the Auburn High Altitude Balloon. This project is geared towards freshmen and sophomores who build, launch, track and recover a payload of space cargo attached to a high altitude balloon. After the balloon is launched, GPS technology and amateur radio facilities are used for tracking and retrieving payload.
AUSSP hopes to take the High Altitude Balloon project and turn it into a high school outreach program. The program is designed to encourage high school students to become more interested in physics and engineering.
AUSSP’s second project is the construction of AubieSat-1, AU’s first earth-orbiting satellite. AubieSat-1 is a one kilogram, 10 centimeter cube that applies engineering concepts and components in an actual satellite that will orbit the Earth for years to come.
The AubieSat team, consisting of Auburn University juniors and seniors, is responsible for designing, building and testing the satellite for launch with the goal of testing revolutionary electronics in space. Its main objective is to test a new Ultra-Violet sensor developed by Dr. Park of the AU Physics Department. AubieSat-1 is part of the Stanford CubeSat program which launches student-built satellites from former Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.
Both of these innovative AUSSP projects offer students the opportunity to develop engineering and science skills as well as practical management, teamwork, communication and systems engineering in a corporate-like environment.
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