September 21, 2012
Payam Banazadeh’s persistence, dedication and hard work were rewarded when his abstract entitled “ExtraSolar Observing Low-Frequency Array for Radio Astronomy (XSOLARA) Mission Feasibility Analysis” was accepted for the 2013 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Thanks to ASE/EM department support, he will be able to travel to Big Sky, Montana to present the results of the feasibility study for the student designed, built and tested micro-satellite mission.
It began two years ago when Banazadeh, a UT aerospace engineering senior, interned at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), where he worked on a team to develop a secondary payload for a proposed robotic return sample mission from the moon. When the JPL team lead asked the interns to create a secondary payload, Banazadeh had an idea. He wanted to utilize CubeSats – 10cm3 cubes designed to allow universities the capability to send satellites into space at a low cost – for the secondary payload.
His idea involved an array of fourteen CubeSats working together to investigate the magnetic fields of exoplanets (planets orbiting other suns). If magnetic fields exist on exoplanets, it could mean the possibility of planetary life, if conditions are just right. When Banazadeh first presented his idea to the JPL team, it was put to rest however, as it was thought to be too risky.
But Banazadeh wasn’t ready to let go of his dream. During the following summer, he continued working on the concept during his time at JPL. He worked proactively, meeting with scientists and presenting his ideas. Eventually he was asked to design a feasibility study to prove his concept would work.
Banazadeh came back to UT in the fall energized by the positive feedback and presented the idea in Dr. Fowler’s mission design class. Fowler responded positively, so Banazadeh formed a team with six other aerospace students – Chinmay Aladangady, Michelle Bolduc, Sarah Hand, Bryse Ed, Rebekah Sosland and Kyle Olson.
The team continued developing the mission concept for three months. In addition to the development, they conducted an analysis to show that within the given constraints, it was feasible to conduct the mission. The student team was also monitored by a team of managers at JPL – Daniel Scharf, Dayton Jones, Joseph Lazio, Courtney Duncan and Mana Salami, alongside Fowler and Teaching Assistant Nick Bradley.
“Though I worked on XSOLARA for a grade throughout the semester, I was more concerned about bringing it to the scientists at JPL,” Banazadeh said.
During the summer of 2012, Banazadeh presented the project to a team of leaders at JPL. He received plenty of praise and the scientists encouraged him to write a paper. Banazadeh also joined with the team of scientists to propose the concept to NASA as a potential mission.
“It feels good to see the progress,” Banazadeh said. “When we started the project, we didn’t know where it would end. We had high hopes, but we never expected the idea to reach this level. It’s been humbling and gratifying.”
Banazadeh plans to graduate in December and work at JPL for eight months before attending graduate school next fall. He also plans to continue working on XSOLARA as part of his graduate research.
“I can’t imagine anything more exciting and fulfilling than coming up with a mission concept and seeing that mission happen at some point in your life.”
