It has graced the hands of more than 250,000 Aggies, and this weekend, the Aggie ring will travel to the edge of space aboard a satellite experiment built entirely by Texas A&M student engineers.

The soon-to-be-launched ring belongs to Ryan David Goodnight, a senior aerospace engineering major and one of 80 undergraduates participating in the building of SHOT II, part of the Air Force's Students Hands-On Training (SHOT) program, to be launched via a weather balloon at the University of Colorado (Boulder) over the weekend of June 17-18.

"Not many people have the opportunity to send something that belongs to them into space," Goodnight said. "SHOT II will carry my Aggie ring on its mission."

Goodnight said he is enthusiastic about the AggieSat Lab program, of which SHOT II is a part. Although he is confident that he will retrieve the ring after the mission, representatives of The Association of Former Students have promised to provide him with a replacement should he be unable to do so.

"The Aggie ring is a world-renowned tradition, and Ryan including his in the satellite project is further testimony to the deep respect Aggies have for their rings," said Porter S. Garner III, executive director and CEO of The Association of Former Students. "We wanted to give Ryan peace of mind that he would have a replacement for his treasured ring, should the recovery not go as planned."

Goodnight's inclusion of his ring as part of the payload on SHOT II will combine a long-standing tradition of respect for the school symbol with what the program's organizers hope will become another tradition, student participation in the space program.

Dr. Helen Reed, head of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M, brought the student satellite lab with her in 2005 from Arizona State University, where her students launched two nanosatellites. Her AggieSat Lab is a multidisciplinary hands-on program where students from 18 majors collaborate in designing and building nanosatellites for space exploration.

"Our goal is to introduce a diverse population of majors to the complexities of business in a highly technical field while providing students with hands-on experience," Reed said. "Currently, AggieSat Lab has two ongoing projects, AggieSat1 and AggieSat2."

AggieSat1 will be featured in an Air Force Research Lab competition with 10 other universities. AggieSat1's mission is to operationally test a responsive space platform featuring three technology experiments: a simple microsatellite propulsion system using water as the propellant, a versatile miniature positioning mechanism using a reusable shape memory alloy as the actuator, and an enzymatic energy source using glucose as the fuel.

"These experiments are accommodated in a versatile and responsive platform that serves as a prototype for future architectures and methods aimed at streamlining the space launch and operations process," Reed said. "The backbone of this streamlined build process is software being designed by AggieSat1 called M-BICS (Mission-Based Intelligent Control System)."

"AggieSat2 is a NASA Johnson Space Center funded mission to design, build and test a series of eight satellites with a goal of autonomous rendezvous and docking. It is a collaborative effort with the University of Texas and will span the next eight years."

Goodnight will travel to Boulder with two other students to help launch SHOT II, carrying a payload they helped design and build. SHOT II will help the AggieSat1 team further the development of Responsive Space Mission (RSM) capabilities.

"The microcontroller on our SHOT II payload mimics the generic control board design for AggieSat1," Goodnight said. "SHOT II provides us with valuable experience building, programming, and testing this type of electronics and RSM device driver dependent functions. It also helps us in determining the cooling times of an SMA spring (the main component of the SMA payload on AggieSat1) to allow for more efficient operations on orbit."

Of course, Goodnight's ring will be riding along to make sure the payload is distinctively Aggie, since the Aggie ring is one of the most important and well-known of the university's symbols. Texas A&M students began to receive class rings as early as 1889, but the current ring design dates to 1894. Identical rings link former students, since they differ only for their class year. Spotting an Aggie ring on another Aggie's hand generates a spontaneous class reunion.

Everything seen on the ring represents an Aggie value: the large shield symbolizes the desire to protect the reputation of the university; the 13 stripes on the shield represent the 13 original states of America; the five stars on the shield refer to the phases of development of any Aggie -- mind, body, spirituality, emotional poise, integrity of character; and the eagle symbolizes agility and power and the ability to reach great heights.

The large star on the side of the ring symbolizes the Seal of Texas, encircled with a wreath of olive and laurel leaves symbolizing achievement and a desire for peace. The live oak leaves symbolize the strength to fight for their country and their state and are encircled by a ribbon showing the necessity of joining these two traits to accomplish one's ambition to serve. An ancient cannon, a saber and a rifle on the other side of the ring symbolize how citizens of Texas fought for their land and are determined to defend it. The saber stands for valor and confidence, while the rifle and cannon stand for preparedness and defense. The crossed flags of the United States and Texas recognize an Aggie's dual allegiance to both nation and state.

In addition to showing his Aggie pride, working on the satellite has given Goodnight and his fellow students valuable practical experience.

"The AggieSat Lab is an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience in an interdisciplinary environment, while enhancing their leadership, business, communication, and technical skills," Reed said. "As a plus, the students are performing valuable research toward National capability in the space exploration initiative. AggieSat1 will test a responsive space platform that would allow engineers to plan and launch a satellite in a few days instead of several years, while AggieSat2 will enable autonomous rendezvous and docking capabilities."

Goodnight said, "I'm looking forward to seeing our satellite lift off. And I chose to send my Aggie ring along because I treasure it so much. After all, it's already a conversation piece, and I thought this out-of-this-world trip would add just a bit more conversation to it."

For more information, contact

Source: Helen Reed
helen.reed@tamu.edu
979/458-2158

Ryan Goodnight
ryan.goodnight@neo.tamu.edu

Web site: http://aggiesat.org.

News Story 1347, June 15, 2006

Direct page link:
http://engineeringnews.tamu.edu/news/1347

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