The mission is named Demonstration of Systems for Michigan Bicentennial Archive, abbreviated as DSM-BARC. The CubeSat serves as a platform to the increase the technology readiness level of the Electrical Power System and Communications System in Earth’s Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).The CubeSat will be the first of its kind to orbit GTO, which is a highly elliptical orbit ranging from 185–36,000 kilometers. So far, CubeSats have been tested in low Earth orbits and are typically not designed to survive in higher orbits. DSM-BARC will weigh a maximum of 2 kilograms and is built to have 2 millimeter thick walls on six sides of its surface to provide radiation shielding, as it will pass the Van Allen radiation belts twice per orbit. DSM-BARC is set to launch in mid-2018 through a free launch opportunity with United Launch Alliance (ULA).
High-resolution photos of campus and student life along with 1,000 interviews collected from U-M students, faculty, staff, and alumni will be etched onto silicon wafers using Electron Beam Lithography at the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility (LNF). The CubeSat will also carry synthetic DNA samples as an experiment to determine its viability as a long-term storage method for information. The experiment aims to investigate the effects of space radiation on synthetic DNA that is encoded with the University of Michigan’s mission statement, and test its viability as a long-term storage method.
Elio Morillo, who recently graduated from ISD’s Systems Engineering + Design program was the Structures Lead for the project and designed early iterations of the CubeSat. He also played a crucial role in team administration and delegation of tasks among team members based on mission constraints.The team looks forward to presenting their spacecraft, along with its payload, at the University of Michigan Bicentennial Fall Festival on October 27th.
