The North Dakota Space Robotics Program: Teaching Spacecraft Development Skills to Students Statewide with High Altitude Ballooning

Abstract

The University of North Dakota is serving as the lead institution in a statewide effort to develop student spacecraft engineering skills. This effort, which is part of the North Dakota Space Robotics Program (NDSRP), provides students the ability to participate in the design, development and fabrication of a small satellite analog that is launched by a high altitude balloon. The first iteration of the NDSRP Near-Spacecraft Project is generating a functional prototype of a remote sensing payload, which will perform onboard image processing. This project included undergraduate and graduate students from two institutions and five different academic departments. The students involved learned and applied skills related to teamwork, project management and interdisciplinary communication. They also participated in an industry-analog distributed work environment.