Dr. Fitz-Coy was my faculty advisor when NASA sent me back to school for one of my Master's degrees. I'm glad to see him win this opportunity.
---- Woody Bass <[email protected]> wrote: > http://news.ufl.edu/2013/08/28/uf-nasa-project/ > > NASA enlists UF faculty to develop small satellite technology > > GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mechanical and aerospace engineering and astronomy > faculty members at the University of Florida have been selected to work with > NASA’s Langley Research Center on navigation and guiding systems for small > satellites. > > Norman Fitz-Coy, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, said > the instruments developed for this project are based on some of the oldest > navigation tools used throughout history. > > “‘Attitude’ is the knowledge of your orientation,” Fitz-Coy said. “On a > spacecraft, you need to be able to identify your attitude accurately, and you > need to be able to change it. So we’re developing two things: a system for > gaining attitude knowledge – we call it a ‘star tracker,’ it’s really a > modern version of a sextant, like those used by sailors – and a gyroscope to > give you the ability to control or reorient your attitude.” > > Joining Fitz-Coy on the project are John Conklin, an assistant professor of > mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Steve Eikenberry, a UF Research > Foundation professor of astronomy. > > “Dr. Eikenberry has a background in optics – the star tracker is a camera, to > a degree – and precision instrumentation is definitely Dr. Conklin’s > strength,” Fitz-Coy said. He added that his own research focus is in control > moment gyroscope (CMG). > > Natalie Clark at Langley Research Center and several other NASA scientists > will work on the project with UF. Her focus will be on writing algorithms and > software for the star tracker system, to integrate it with UF’s technologies. > > “NASA used to make big satellites that were very expensive. As the agency > focused on Mars research, we found ourselves with fewer resources,” Clark > said. “The agency then refocused, producing faster, smaller and less > expensive satellites in volume. Now we’re improving on that model by adding > sophisticated systems to smaller satellites that can better collect data and > fly with better precision than ever before. That’s where this technology > comes in.” > > The project will receive $200,000 from NASA’s budget over the next two years > and is already underway. > > Credits > > Writer > Jen Ambrose , [email protected] > Source > Norman Fitz-Coy, [email protected] > Source > Natalie Clark, [email protected] > Comments are currently closed. > > > -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
