Course content

The course is a concentrated practice/experimentally oriented course. Exact dates will be decided as soon as possible. The course contains i.a. one week of laboratory exercises and experiments at Andøya Space, usually in mid June. It is based on the course TTT4234 Space Technology I, that is required for uptake. The uptake is limited due to existing available resources at Andøya Space. The exercises at Andøya, the launch of a student rocket with sensors, comprise the integration of the rocket payload, soldering and calibration of the sensors, telemetry set-up, the launch itself, download and analysis of the in-flight measured data. In addition to the laboratory exercises and the report from Andøya, the course contains a half day seminar, an essay and an exercise report that shall be written by the student. The course is given provided necessary funding. In addition, there is a minimum number of students set to 8 by Andøya Space Education, and the maximum number of students is limited to 24 due to limited capacity at Andøya Space. A personal fee to be covered by the students will apply. The course is reserved for students in the MTELSYS and MSELSYS study programs. If available, students from other study programs can apply for admission.

Learning outcome

Knowledge: The candidate has

- knowledge on rocket launch after participating in a launch in practice

- detailed knowledge within at least one of the following areas:

• Rocket technology
• Telemetry
• Payload
• Experiments

Experiments Skills: The candidate can

- describe the procedures for a rocket launch

- describe the main characteristics for a rocket in-flight (height, range, centre of gravity, centre of mass, drag, spin, super and sub sonic flight)

- describe the main principles of telemetry (carrier frequency, antennas, tracking)

- describe the principles of the sensors that are launched as payload in the rocket, and analyse the data received from these.

General competence:

The candidate understands how a rocket launch campaign is performed, which elements to take into account, and which calculations that are needed, in addition to the security measures to consider.

Learning methods and activities

The main part of the course is a concetrated, full time activity at Andøya Space Education. In addition comes preparations and report writing etc. Individual reports over projects, exercises and laboratory exercises are compulsory. Portfolio assessment is the basis for the grade in the course. The portfolio includes a project/essay with 30%, exercises 40% and a final project report after the stay at Andøya 30%. The results for the parts are given in %-scores, while the entire portfolio is assigned a letter grade.

The assessment criteria will be given before each activity. Feedback on the assessment of the different parts in the portfolio are given upon request.

Further on evaluation

Portfolio assessment is the basis for the grade in the course. The portfolio includes a project/essay with 30%, home exercises 40% and a final project report after the stay at Andøya 30%. The essay shall be written early in the semester, and typically be submitted by mid-March. The topic can be chosen from a list of proposed topics, or may be a topic of special interest to the student, but must then be approved by the course coordinator. The home exercises are published at about the same time as the submission of the essays, and shall usually be submitted by mid-April. The deadlines for the submission of the essay and the home exercises are communicated at the beginning of the semester. The essay is an individual exercise, or may be written together with another student, but must then be more comprehensive. The home exercises shall always be submitted individually, even if the work can be done in cooperation with other students. The deadline for the submission of the report from Andøya is agreed with the students when at Andøya, but can not be later than the 15th of August the same year. The students will themselves decide if the report will be delivered as individual contributions, as group contributions or as one single piece of work from all students. The results for the parts are given in %-scores, while the entire portfolio is assigned a letter grade.

The assessment criteria will be given before each activity. Feedback on the assessment of the different parts in the portfolio are given upon request.

If the exam is to be repeated, the whole course needs to be taken.

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

As for TTT4234 Space technology I.

Required previous knowledge

TTT4234 Space Technology I.

Course materials

The recommended text book is B. The International Handbook of Space Technology - http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-642-41101-4. Other material will be distributed.