Category Archives: Uncategorized

Business Communication I was skeptical about this 2 unit class going in, and after 15 weeks I am convinced of its lack of necessity.  Don’t get me wrong, parts of this course were enjoyable, and I still appreciate the practice I got in collaborative projects and public speaking, muscles which are never flexed in engineeringContinueContinue reading “UGBA 100”

https://youtu.be/pbtSTXFuU7w Summer 2022 has been the most educational, exhilarating, and fulfilling 3-month span in my life.   Looking up to the stars is a primal instinct.  As toddlers, our gazes probably drifted upward towards the night sky before we even knew what to make of what we were seeing.  As we begin to comprehend moreContinueContinue reading “SpaceX Internship”

Signals and Systems Aha, the moment I have been waiting for!  Finally, EE has fully transcended basic circuit analysis.  EE 120 was, in my case, the first EE class I took where I could not rely on accumulated high school knowledge anymore.  We never touched Ohm’s or Kirchoff’s laws in this class.  Instead, we delvedContinueContinue reading “EE 120”

Heat Transfer I made a couple great new friends in this class.  Notable ones included Biot, Nusselt, Prandtl, and Rayleigh.  But in all seriousness, who are these people?  We tossed their name-attributed dimensionless numbers around like tennis balls in this class.  While I’m here, I’d also like to point out how easy this Kirchoff guyContinueContinue reading “ME 109”

Engineering Analysis Using the Finite-Element Method ME C180 was an introductory course to the finite element method taught by Professor Sanjay Govindjee, a Structures and Materials Professor in the civil engineering department.  The finite element method is a mathematical method designed to help engineers break down complex physical problems and model/simulate them in a virtualContinueContinue reading “ME C180”

For manufacturing, we used a combination of in-house methods, outsourced jobs, and off-the-shelf components. Managing the budget was the trickiest part. Protolabs: For high-precision and geometrically complex components such as the terrained end-plates, we outsourced our manufacturing jobs to Protolabs. Raw materials and shipping costs were all included in the order. This was by farContinueContinue reading “Manufacturing and Assembly”

Vibe Test: Mounting our satellite onto a vibration simulator at Berkeley’s SSL (Space Sciences Laboratory). Fit Check: Mounting our satellite onto the deployer to see if it fits snugly Payload Signal RF transmission Steady State Thermal SImulation of Rods (contacts the PCBs).

Dealing with Failure Unfortunately, during launch, Astra’s ELaNa 41 mission lost control after 2nd stage separation and only reached an apogee of around 400 km before releasing the cubesat payloads and dropping back to earth. Cubesats were deployed roughly 100 km short of target orbit and with nowhere near the orbital velocity necessary. Despite this,ContinueContinue reading “Dealing with failure and the next steps”

Integration happened on the first day of finals week. Luckily, the core team was free for most of the day. We visited Astra’s HQ in Alameda, CA and met with cubesat teams from other universities and even the Johnson Space Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jlQmW7mnYM The team standing in front of the first stage of Astra’s rocket onContinueContinue reading “Integration & Launch”