Session
Technical Session XI: Educational Programs
Abstract
Initially championed by the NASA Office of Education, the American Student Moon Orbiter (ASMO) project offers to next generation explorers unique opportunities for integral involvement in the U.S. space exploration program. The ASMO project will be carried out as a diverse nationwide higher education initiative by which American university students and their faculty advisors will design, build, register, launch and own the ASMO small spacecraft and its payload. The student-built ASMO craft could be launched to orbit the Earth’s Moon in 2011 in tandem with a spacecraft to be developed by European students under a companion European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO) program. Through coordination with ESA’s ESMO program and possible spacecraft interoperability, valuable opportunities for international scientific and technical collaboration could be offered. Conceived to accommodate a 10kg payload in a highly elliptical 2 year lunar orbit, there are numerous options for ASMO to serve as a valuable data gathering mission and technology demonstration that will enhance understanding of the lunar environment and advance the small satellite field. Representing a new class of exploration activity whereby the public can directly participate in a NASA mission, the ASMO project is also intended to lower the barrier of entry into space exploration.
Presentation Slides
The NASA American Student Moon Orbiter (ASMO) Project
Initially championed by the NASA Office of Education, the American Student Moon Orbiter (ASMO) project offers to next generation explorers unique opportunities for integral involvement in the U.S. space exploration program. The ASMO project will be carried out as a diverse nationwide higher education initiative by which American university students and their faculty advisors will design, build, register, launch and own the ASMO small spacecraft and its payload. The student-built ASMO craft could be launched to orbit the Earth’s Moon in 2011 in tandem with a spacecraft to be developed by European students under a companion European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO) program. Through coordination with ESA’s ESMO program and possible spacecraft interoperability, valuable opportunities for international scientific and technical collaboration could be offered. Conceived to accommodate a 10kg payload in a highly elliptical 2 year lunar orbit, there are numerous options for ASMO to serve as a valuable data gathering mission and technology demonstration that will enhance understanding of the lunar environment and advance the small satellite field. Representing a new class of exploration activity whereby the public can directly participate in a NASA mission, the ASMO project is also intended to lower the barrier of entry into space exploration.
