Welcome to the U of S Space Design Team's website!
Follow the U of S Space Design Team as they embark on their journey to Edwards Air Force Base in Dryden, California by Daily Competition Updates and Blogs leading up to, during and after the Spaceward Space Elevator games.
And it's over...
The X-15 rocket plane is one of the most famous test aircraft ever flown at the Dryden Flight Research Center. Flying higher and faster than anything before, it explored boundaries that made possible the design of winged spacecraft like the Shuttle. The project manager and chief test pilot once said: "The purpose of test is to separate the imagined problems from the real, and to seek out the unimagined or unexpected problems."
That statement sums up this past week for the U of S Space Design Team. We left Saskatoon with a world-class design, and our strongest effort to be prepared. From the time we arrived, we faced a set of unexpected problems that we'd never seen in our testing at home. Despite an all-out problem-solving effort by everyone on the team, we didn't get past all of those problems in time. The final results: Our congratulations go to LaserMotive, a corporate team that succeeded in beating the 2m/s prize criteria and winning $900,000. Neither us nor the Kansas City Space Pirates (Yarr....) were able to make it all the way to the top, and no one took the 5m/s prize.
"What happened?" is the big question that everyone is asking. There were two major problems that we faced: During testing before the competition runs, we broke the shaft connecting our main drive motor. Our backup motor had unexpected problems with its controller, and Shea spent an epically stressful day and night trying to get that motor running, while Matt and the mechanical team worked with the machinists in the NASA Dryden fabrication shop to repair the shaft on the original motor. (These guys were awesome, and we owe them huge thanks.) Unfortunately the motor problems caused us to miss the first two of our three 45-minute competition windows.
The other critical issue was with our GPS-based tracking system: We had tested it as much as we could in Saskatoon on cranes, and even chased motorbikes at 1km. This week, we watched it track our climber flawlessly as the helicopter pulled it up from the ground to the starting position at 100m. However, every time we reached the starting position, a strange source of interference hit the receiver on the climber and caused it to continuously lose its lock on the GPS satellites. We had never seen this before in all of our testing, and we're still mystified by what could have been causing this. We put our manual tracking system into use, and although Ariq did an amazing job at the controls, we didn't have enough time in our final 45-minute competition window to perfect the switch-over between manual and GPS tracking, or adjust the climber programming to let it be more tolerant of losing the beam.
We're all hugely disappointed, especially because we know how close we came. The fact that no team took the 1st place prize reminds us that this is a really difficult challenge, and when you're pushing the boundaries of what's technologically possible, things can go wrong.
We really want to thank all of our families, wives, girlfriends and boyfriends, and everyone from the University that has supported us so much, sacrificed for us, and enabled this crazy opportunity. We're really sorry we couldn't bring back the prize, and we tried so hard to represent Saskatchewan as world-leading innovators and respectful professionals.
To our list of thank-you's, we need to add a special shout-out to the machine shop staff: both Keith and the guys in the UofS Engineering Shops, and the NASA Dryden people, for the outstanding work they did for us. We're also hugely grateful to the Dryden team: John Kelly (for running the show, kindness, and wisdom), Mike Kapitzke (for running very smooth, tight operations and keeping everyone safe), Elizabeth (for getting us where we needed to go, and being our cheerleader, even at 5 in the morning -- you're awesome!), Freddy (the coolest van driver ever), and John Pyatt (who handled the challenge of laser safety on the lakebed in a keenly responsible, always critical, yet flexible and understanding way.)
Last but first, we thank all of our donors and sponsors; the critical link that made this opportunity possible. We especially want to thank the Trumpf team: Dave Marcotte for having the business guts and the "more power -- let's do it!" race-car driver attitude to make this project possible, and the one-and-only Ivan, who kept an 8kW laser system running in the middle of the desert, without a single issue! We're sorry we couldn't do the same on our end.
Another huge shout-out goes to the helicopter team that supported the vertical cable: "Foxtrot" (Doug, the excellent heli pilot -- If he was any better, we almost wouldn't even need a tracking system!), "HeloGround" Keith Mackey (for keeping Foxtrot on target despite our very confusing directions, and his helpful advice), and "Tetherman" Michael Keating (for his hustle and tireless dedication to running around the desert floor catching climbers all day). We should also probably thank Ben Shelef, the competition organizer and head of the Spaceward Foundation (even if you did make us pay for the whole thing ; ) We recognize how hard it is to single-handedly organize all of this, and seriously: nice work.
Even in this huge disappointment, we're really proud of our team. Ben refers to us as the "many-headed hydra", and we take this as a huge compliment. It recognizes that everyone on the team had a crucial part -- everyone individually has something that they are the best at. Every day we saw new problems, and every night someone came up with a creative solution. Unfortunately, we just never got to the end of all those problems in time.
It's hard to imagine the level of dedication that causes someone to stay up for three nights in a row, and still be coming up with solutions on the last one, until they fall asleep standing up during a NASA tour on the last day. (John M., you're a hero.) This level of dedication is there for everyone on the team, and we really gave it our all. After doing this for a year and a half, it's so disappointing to end up here.
We are looking for the positives. This was a learning experience for everyone that surpassed anything in our official curriculum -- both technically, and in what we learned about leadership, teamwork, and project planning. We, as undergraduate students and recent graduates, developed technologies and a core design that were (and still are) superior to anything in the world. This is shown from the reactions of people such as Lawrence Davis, head of NASA Test Pilot School; NASA personnel; and even our competitors. On the way back, we had a chance to tour the SpaceX facility in Los Angeles, where they are designing and assembling the Falcon 9 spacecraft which will replace the Shuttle for trips to the International Space Station in 2011. It was reassuring that we could pick out similarities in almost all aspects of their work and what we have done on this project. Some of the team members are already talking about what's next: there's still a $1.1 million prize out there for 5m/s, and we have a design that's easily capable of achieving that -- we just need to get it all working at once. It is great to see that the team is not discouraged by the outcome, but sees it more as a challenge and lesson to move on and and keep going.
From here on, it's about talking about lessons learned, catching up on schoolwork, deciding what comes next, and figuring out other ways on how we can give back to the University community, even if we don't have that $2 million prize money.
USST Live Twitter Feed
Check back regularly for our live updates in this feed section. To see our feed history or follow us go to: www.twitter.com/USST
Countdown to the 2008/09 Space Elevator Competition:
If you are interested in following our progress throughout this coming competition and into the future, please stay tuned. We will be periodically updating this site with current news and status.
Competition Date Announced
A new (and hopefully final) competition date has been announced; the competition will be held the week of November 2nd at the Edwards Air Force Base in California. On the 2nd and 3rd setup and testing will begin. The competition itself will begin on the 4th and run for three days. We are currently doing final preparations and working out last minute bugs to get everything ready in time.
We would also like to thank our generous sponsors and contributors for all of their support, without which we would not be here today:
Countdown to the 2008/09 Space Elevator Competition:
USST Trip, July 18-26, Dryden
On July 18th twelve team members in three vehicles left from the university for a 36 hour trek to Edwards Air Force Base. Read More >>
Michigan Testing
Mark Boots, our loyal VP Engineer, has been busy testing in Michigan this week. He sounds very positive about the results he is getting and the burn patterns in the drywall he is using as a back stop is impressive. He will be on his way back tomorrow to help out the team on the big dry run we will be having on the weekend.
Test Runs
On the week of June 15th Spaceward held a helicopter dry run for testing the cable system. They had some bad weather and a minor failure that delayed them with that testing. There were also qualification tests’ going on that week for teams to ensure that the safety systems are up to par. The USST planned on showing up on the 15th with 9 members to conduct all of the pre-qualification tests and do some system practice and optimization while we had the opportunity.
This isn’t what happened though. After running into major technical problems during the assembly of our complex solar panel , the team decided to hold off from leaving until all fixes were made. Several days into the repair, prognosis for total completion of the panel was not looking promising.After a team meeting, it was decided to send 4 members down to NASA’s Dryden Research center to complete what tests we were ready for to ensure team qualification. . As usual for our team we ran into problems at the border and also at the entrance to Dryden. Below is a slimmed down log of the events of that trip.
Tuesday PM-Wednesday AM: All-night pack.
Wednesday 1100h:4 members leave for the open road.
Wednesday PM: Transport shuttle delayed at US customs. Guard doesn't think we need to file as a commercial carrier. Pay $10.75 for a "Truck Fee" and enter as a private traveller, not a commercial carrier.
Thursday PM: Notify Spaceward and NASA that we'll be arriving Thursday evening. Discover that if we arrive after 1515h, we can't enter NASA grounds until 0700 following morning.
Arrived on-base at 2200h... detained for 1.5 hrs -- apparently we're not on the FDO list of approved foreign nationals. Call a NASA official-- he says to hold tight. Minutes later phone rings inside guard office... Informed that the FDO list was just updated and we're now clear. Finally issued passes and allowed onto Edwards AFB (not NASA). Drive to campground -- no sites available. Park Seacan/RV in parking lot.
Complete as much preperation work as we can on cordless tools and no power... tried to get setup as much as possible for next day. Bedtime 0348hFriday 0651h: Wake up... In NASA’s office by 0703h am to receive badges. Go through 1.5-hour process to get permits, badges, and airfield clearance for all of our vehicles. Just learned that laser testing was being cutoff at 1530 sharp today, and that there would be no weekend test time available
0930h: Follow our escorts out past F16’s, UAV’s and the Shuttle 747 and out onto the lake bed. Stop before crossing runway to pick all the rocks (AKA "FOD") out of our tires.
1030h: Working as efficiently as possible to get unpacked, assembled, and ready for lasing. Trim down the test procedure to get the most critical tests completed.
1100h: Electronics setup and testing occuring as Mech team (Andrew and Doug) work to level/stabilize the Seacan. Edwards AFB "Frequency Control" van shows up on-site to observe our radio spectrum and make sure it's within the RF range we reported.
1230h: Setup delayed by media tour that wants to talk. Agree to short interview/tour. Explain difficulty of situation (delayed at border, arrive on-site late, trying to get full systems setup in 3 short hours with a minimal crew -- very challenging. Explain rest of team back home working on panel, and some unique facts about the panel.)
1300h: Temperature board retrofit attempted for in field application. Calling Ariq and Joe from the desert to resolve Master/Slave communication.. TRUMPF saying that we're running out of time... all testing needs to be done at 1530h.
1400h: Abandon temperature sensor board and rig bare wires up to sensors for manual measuring with a multi-meter. Review laser-on/laser-off operations and radio procedure with TRUMPF. Review backstop requirements with NASA’s Safety Officer.
1437h: Setup plywood backstop and camera for viewing beam profile. Request 500W. First beam through laser... looks good. First light!Shutdown beam and request 2000W. Re-enable beam. Open and close optics to adjust beam size. Ignite plywood backstop on fire... disable beam! Andrew measures the burn spot - nice and circular, deep.Open door to check on optics -- discover water leak. Time is 1505h... TRUMPF also has a shutdown looming... Immediate decision made to open up optics, find leak and continue operations in whatever time is left. Remove camera to access case screws. Glove and masks on - hands sweating like crazy. (BTW, thanks for the A/C TRX RV!) Find leak on push-connector -- reset pipe seat and mop up. Run downrange like mad to setup target at 200m. 1530h: Request 4000W from Trumpf operator. Belay that and go all out -- 8000W. Beam on and on-target. Proceed with "melt-test" on optics... how long can we go like this? Temperatures being read as fast as possible by Nathan and Doug.
TRUMPF guy starts complaining about something smelling hot.... disable beam and secure laser. Open clean-room door and confirm everything cold. Trumpf finds something warm in their generator.
1900h: Find out from Ben that NASA’s Safety Officer was impressed with our organization, equipment, seriousness and safety procedures to clear us for competition, despite not being complete on all tests. Still need to find a way to demonstrate pass on remaining tests.
2000h: Edwards AFB passes expired. Pull Seacan and RV to town of Boron and find a RV park for the night.
Saturday June 20 AM: Secure seacan for transport.
Drive to Fresno to return RV. (3.5hrs both ways) Blowout on trailer - change flat on freeway. (Big rigs blow away your warning triangles every time they drive past.)
1800h: Return to pick up Seacan. Teleporter was out of order, so depart by road for Saskatoon.
Sunday 2040h: Serious issue returning through Cdn. customs. Mandatory for entry, they require a "Cdn. Goods Returning Entry" completed, but we can't because our goods were never technically exported. (ie: entered as private traveller - no Import Bond filed). Informed that we are in serious trouble, and will have to wait until broker's office opens Monday morning. Visit Livingston brokerage office, but they can't help because we never exported anything. Suggest fines and major delays upcoming. Return to customs officer -- explain situation and work out a way to prove that the goods originally came from Canada. Use legendary Starfleet Captain charm to convince her to let us go. Obtain access code for exit gate - clear to go!
Monday 0500h: Away-team reporting back in.
As you can see it was a very interesting week and there is still some work to getting the bumps worked out. The team is working every night to get all systems integrated flawlessly.
With the problem that came up while helicopter testing Spaceward will need to re-test it and that has been scheduled for July 20th. This means that the competition will be postponed until at least August 5th.
Team Update - June 11, 2009
So the team is working hard to have everything ready for the big trip down to Dryden Research Center this Saturday. It has been a long time coming but the qualifying tests are finally here and we all hope it goes off without a hitch. As we all know that rarely happens but maybe this time:) I have to say a big thanks to everyone that has been helping out to meet this deadline possible, especially the team members that have been putting in all the hours the past while. Thanks guys!
Keep an eye out for updates in the up coming weeks and then once the competition starts hopefully you will be able to see us in the news.
Just a reminder we are still looking for donations to help pay for the trip for the qualifications and competition. Please email me, patrick.allen@usask.ca, or call me, (306) 220-4103, if you are interested in helping out in anyway.
Presidents Message - May 2009
It is drawing nearer to a rock solid competition date for the 2008/09 competition and we are still working hard. We have some final assembly left to do, debugging, and then the final tweaks. The summer months are upon us and all the students spread out for their summer jobs. I am actually working in Calgary but the rest of the team is still going strong completing everything that is left.
We have the basics of the logistics figured out but once we get a final date and a bit more information we can finalize the plans. It will be nice for the team to work towards a date instead of just working all the time without a real end in sight.
As usual we are still looking for anyone interested in supporting us, in any form. It is not very cheap for 20 students to travel 3,000km and stay in a hotel for a week. If you are interested in getting involved visit the Contact page and contact any of us.
Patrick Allen
** Just a note that for those of you that aren't aware the competition has been postponed from 2008. So if there are references to 2008 competition it is now in 2009.
Spycam Pictures - August 21, 2008
Spies have infiltrated USST Headquarters and have managed to capture these few rare pictures from the otherwise secretive team. Don't you dare check out the photos here.
USST Recognizes Anonymous Donor - August 18, 2008
The USST gratefully acknowledges an extremely generous recent contribution by an anonymous donor. While we do not know who to thank, all of the students on the team were extremely grateful and empowered to hear about this donation last night. The donation enables us to cover the costs of the remaining expensive equipment (laser modules, optics upgrades, and photovoltaic cells) that represents our most competitive Power Beaming system. It also brings us within close reach of our full fundraising target, allowing us to dedicate our full time to design and assembly as we prepare for a Public Test of our system in the first month of the school year.
The USST is massively indebted to this(these) generous individual(s) for providing us with this huge opportunity -- our success rides on your shoulders! Thank you so much.
President's Message - July 2008
We've completed the design of the climber and the power beaming station. We are now ordering, machining, and assembling all the parts for each component. Although it proved to be very challenging to design for the new requirements this year (1km climb height, 5m/s climb speed), we feel that once again we have a very strong system that will excel in the competition.
The tracking has been under testing for the past few weeks and it looks very promising. The climber itself is almost entirely finished, and we've discovered several breakthroughs in the electrical/motor/photovoltaic department that will really increase our efficiency.
All teams are working hard to shoot for a full working system by the end of August. We'd really like to be able to perform a Public Demo for the University community and our sponsors at the beginning of the school year, in recognition for all of their support.
We are still looking for funding to help pay for the extra equipment we need to meet the 2008 challenge (new laser modules and optics, new photovoltaic cells, etc). We encourage anyone interested in supporting the Team and the University to please contact us no matter what contribution they can make.
