MORGANTOWN — When West Virginia’s first satellite launches into space, three experiments from WVU will be on board.
Students and faculty from the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences have built and tested elements of the Simulation-to-Flight 1 or STF-1 satellite. The satellite will soon launch as part of the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative Educational Launch of Nanosatellites program.
CubeSats are small, about the size of a loaf of bread, and built with off-the-shelf components. As part of the White House Maker Initiative, NASA plans to launch 50 satellites from 50 states.
The goal, according to a WVU press release, is to show “the capabilities of the software-only simulation environments developed at NASA’s IV&V program to better support current and future NASA missions.”
“I want to work for NASA after I graduate, so working on STF-1 helped me learn how satellite missions are developed and what kinds of things need to be done in order for them to be successful,” said Nick Ohi, a WVU doctorate student in mechanical and aerospace engineering. “Plus, being able to say that I have experience working on a CubeSat mission is a big boost to my resume.”
WVU worked with the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation Program and TMC Technologies in Fairmont, on the project.
“From my work on this project, I gained insight into what I wanted to focus my studies and future career in,” Catherine O’Hearn, WVU alumna with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. “I gained my first clean room experience from this project, which led to my last internship working in a Process Integration Team at the Northrop-Grumman Advanced Technologies Lab.
“Once I complete my education, I hope to work in device design and processing in the electronics sector; my work with STF-1 was the first step in this path. It’s also very exciting to know something I worked on will be launched as part of a project with NASA.”
