AAE 590: Conceptual Space Mission Design

New Course
Maymester 2016
Time:  TBD
Instructor: Prof.  Sarag  Saikia
Contact: sarag@purdue.edu

The goal of this course is to prepare the next generation of engineering and science students to participate in the conceptual design of a robotic planetary exploration mission in response to NASA’s mission call of opportunity.

Students will use the knowledge gained in the Spring 2016 course, “Spacecraft Engineering and Conceptual Mission Design I,” and learn-by-working in the development of a robotic planetary exploration mission concept through concurrent engineering.  Students select the mission and science goals based on high-priority scientific objectives as highlighted in the National Research Council’s 2013 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Based on the high priority science objectives, the students develop the science traceability matrix and a suite of instrumentation to answer the science goals. Each student will be allowed to have both science and engineering roles in the mission design process.

The course will be an intensive (~3 weeks) team exercise in the Summer Module 1 (Maymester) 2016, where students will perform a conceptual planetary science mission design to emulate how JPL’s Advanced Projects Team (Team X) performs mission design. Students participate in a series of “intensive” concurrent design sessions in an “active learning” environment, where the mission design and instrument suite are finalized. Students thereby learn the interconnectedness of mission elements, perform the necessary trade-offs to stay within the cost cap.

Students will be mentored by the instructor; and scientists and engineers of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, other NASA centers, and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL).

At the completion of the design exercise, students will be given the opportunity to present their mission concept study to a Proposal Review Board comprised of NASA/JPL scientists and engineers. As a requirement, students write a conference paper and present their results at an international conference (e.g. International Planetary Probe Workshop) or a NASA meeting.

Concurrent Engineering in an Active Learning Environment

Students in the course will brainstorm, collaborate, and work in an active learning environment to complete the rapid conceptual design of a robotic planetary exploration mission. A picture below shows such a collaborative environment called the Project Design Center of the Advanced Projects Team (Team – X) at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The picture was taken in July 2013 at the session of the Planetary Science Summer School.

Photos: Project Design Center at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (circa 2013)

Now, if you are curious what JPL Team X is, you may find these articles interesting:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Team-X
JPL’s Dream Team
Team X reaches 1,000th study, looks forward