Awards & Nominations
SNASA has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!
Global Nominee
Project Popcorn
High-Level Project Summary
Our project looks to revolutionize CEV/CPAS parachutes by using a new, non-conventional method method of deployment.We developed a parachute housing to replace the current "mortar" system used today. By using magnetic connections in place of reefing line cutters, we've replaced the high-shock release devices. It is important because it solves the challenges faced such as being low impact, zero waste and coming up with a new style of parachute deployment so we can move away from the parachute problems space travel faces today which prevent us from going deeper into space travel. Our magnetic connections get demagnetized to release the reefing line instead of cutting saves costs.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
The first step of our project was reefing line cutters. We decided that using magnetic couplings in place of reefing line cutters would solve the high-shock event while also being easy to reset. Along with this, since the magnets are attached to the reefing lines, they would be pulled away with each side of the device, leaving zero waste. Using alnico magnets, we are able to get a very strong magnet that can also easily become demagnetized for separation using electrical current. The benefits of using the magnets is that it is a cost effective way to separate the line compared to the cutters used today.
The second step of our project uses a vacuum sealed chamber to house the parachute and the lines. Using a feed of gas, we break the vacuum seal, and the parachute body will begin to expand out from the chamber. This happens slowly and deliberately as to make a low impact event when the parachute is deployed.
With our project we hope to solve the parachute problem that exists today using the high force, high impact parachute system we have that is inefficient and holding us back from further space travel. We cannot land on Mars because the parachutes are ineffective and we spend so much time and resources on figuring out how to make parachutes work. We hope we can help move past figuring out how to make parachutes work for us so we can venture deeper into space.
Space Agency Data
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19730016345/downloads/19730016345.pdf - Used to help learn about Aerospace parachutes
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19660020968/downloads/19660020968.pdf - Used to learn about parachute deployment
Hackathon Journey
Liam- My Space Apps experience was exceptional! Our team was first inspired by the "Let It Go Without A Bang" challenge due to its interesting engineering problem. But we were quickly drawn to the mechanics of the parachute deployment devices used in Aerospace applications. After some brainstorming, we decided we wanted to go all out with taking a shot at designing our own take on the parachute deployment systems used today.
Jessica- I really enjoyed working on this project and especially my team. I love how creative and skilled we all are, in our own ways, an we can bring our ideas all together in the end. What inspired us to choose this challenge was our heavily engineer oriented team. Our approach involved all coming up with our own ideas and then bringing all the strengths of each together for the final product. Our team resolved challenges by delegating work and separating the tasks so each piece was manageable.
Elizabeth - My first Space App Challenge taught me a lot about problems that I never had encountered before and made me realize how the "smallest" challenges have the biggest impact.
Dylan - Aspiring Robotics Engineer. Competed in multiple hackathons.
References
https://magnetpartner.com/magnetic-calculator
https://www.kjmagnetics.com/calculator.asp
https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-demagnetize-a-magnet-607873
https://www.britannica.com/science/helium-chemical-element
https://www.21stcentech.com/materials-survive-space/
https://nts.com/ntsblog/materials-survive-in-space/
http://www.totalmateria.com/Article122.htm
https://terpconnect.umd.edu/~wbreslyn/magnets/is-titanium-magnetic.html
https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-are-some-materials-magnetic-and-is-aluminum-magnetic.html
https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1547
https://www.neonickel.com/technical-resources/general-technical-resources/titanium-grade-5-vs-titanium-grade-2-comparison-between-the-alpha-beta-alloy-and-the-workhorse-of-commercially-pure-grade/
Reefing line Cutters Reference
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19730011151/downloads/19730011151.pdf
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2020/ip_8.html
Tags
#parachute #separation
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.