Working with the Space Systems Design Studio at Cornell, graduate student Joseph Shoer demonstrates the properties of magnetic flux pinning, which, as he suggests, could be used to build highly reconfigurable modular spacecraft. In the past year, it's been suggested that CubeSats might be used to demonstrate these properties in space.
Joseph, we'd love an update on that idea!
Wayne
Hey there!
The CubeSat is more than a suggestion now, though still at a very early stage in development. I'm working with a Cornell undergraduate project team in an effort to design and build a simple flux pinning technology demonstration mission this academic year. The mission would likely involve two modules (perhaps two 1U CubeSats) linked by flux-pinning forces and would demonstrate actuation of the interface with electromagnets.
We're also working on a new suite of ground demos and experiments to enable further design work on flux-pinned spacecraft systems.
Posted by: Joseph Shoer | October 08, 2008 at 02:14 PM
Thanks Joseph for the update! Best of luck to you and your team. Feel free to update Kentucky Space on your progress :-)
Posted by: Wayne | October 08, 2008 at 02:26 PM
Another update for you: no CubeSat yet, but we did fly a set of mockup CubeSat-sized spacecraft on a NASA microgravity aircraft this summer:
http://www.spacecraftresearch.com/flux/flux_research.html
Posted by: Joseph Shoer | September 09, 2009 at 09:14 AM