How to Manufacture Your Own Spacecraft
NASA Goddard shares a step-by-step process for producing a fresh new satellite — learn how 'PACE' is constructed and will be used for studying Earth's atmosphere and ocean health.
“When you look down at the ocean, you can see phytoplankton there and for the first time, with PACE, the scientists will be able to see what type of phytoplankton there are from space,” said Gary Davis , mission systems engineer at Goddard for the PACE mission. “Hopefully this mission will be able to communicate the importance of ocean health and the health of plankton to the whole world.”
More From SAE Media Group
Tech Briefs
5Ws of the Light Sail
Tech Briefs
Videos of the Month
NASA Spinoff
Separation Device Launches New Science Payloads
Aerospace INSIDER
Predicting In-Flight Air Density for More Accurate Landing
Aerospace Manufacturing and Machining INSIDER
Ball Aerospace Starts Final Assembly of Space Force's Next Generation Operational Weather Satellite
Tech Briefs
Commercial Lunar Landers Ready for the Moon
Aerospace & Defense Tech Briefs
NASA Eyes GPS at the Moon for Artemis Missions
Aerospace & Defense Tech Briefs
Made in Space Is Set to Make in Space
Aerospace INSIDER
Nuclear-Powered Drone Destined for Titan Enters Final Design Phase
NASA Spinoff
External Platform Enables Space Research
Aerospace INSIDER
Three Companies to Build New Multi-Orbit Logistics Prototype Spacecraft
Aerospace INSIDER
ESA’s Future Low Earth Orbit Cargo Return Service Spacecraft
Tech Briefs
Flexible, Spinning Heat Shield for Spacecraft
Aerospace Manufacturing and Machining INSIDER
Collins Aerospace to Provide Critical Subsystems for NASA’s Orion Spacecraft
Aerospace & Defense Tech Briefs
Navigation Unit
NASA Spinoff
Industry Opens a New Door to Space
Aerospace Manufacturing and Machining INSIDER
Three Companies to Lead Development of Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicles
Tech Briefs
NASA's 2014 Highlights
Aerospace Manufacturing and Machining INSIDER
Missile Warning Satellite Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing
Tech Briefs
Robust Bus Systems for CubeSats
Transcript
00:00:00 If you want to make a spacecraft, you've got to break a few eggs. No, that's not right. You've got to bake for a few days. That's it. So follow along for our recipe for homemade satellite. First up, collect your ingredients. We're making an ocean, land, and atmosphere monitoring satellite called PACE. So we'll gather two polarimeters, which measure the polarization state of light as it travels through water and atmospheric aerosols. And one Ocean Color Instrument, which will measure light reflected
00:00:28 from the ocean surface to study tiny ocean creatures called phytoplankton, as well as atmospheric properties above the ocean. Wrap these individual components in special spacecraft foil. These blankets for satellites help keep the instruments that need to be hot, hot, and those that need to be cold, cold while they're in space. We make them special right here at Goddard. Place the instruments in the Thermal Vacuum Chamber or TVAC. This chamber mimics some of the extremes the satellite will experience. Space can be very cold, but sunlight can heat the spacecraft up. This test ensures the spacecraft and its instruments will handle both.
00:01:04 It also creates a vacuum, like the vacuum of space, to make sure the satellite can withstand those pressures. We'll bake the satellite components at a variety of temperatures and pressures for several days. When your timer goes off, remove PACE from TVAC. It's time for the last step of building a spacecraft: Assembly! We'll install PACE's instruments to get ready for launch in 2024 and a new view of our home planet's ocean and atmosphere.