Tech may soon be launching its first, in-house developed
satellite into outer space. Earlier this month, a team of over
60 undergraduate and graduate students in the AE department won
first place for their microsatellite, Prox-1, in the University
Nanosatellite Program (UNP). The result of a Senior Design class
and undergraduate research, Prox-1 will be launched into space
from the Air Force Research Laboratory in 2015. The students
were in control of the entire process, from the original design
to making the satellite flight ready. On average, they would
work from two to four hours a week, though in “crunch times”
students could be expected to work upwards of 40 hours a week.
“You’d be surprised how comfortable two chairs pulled together
like a bed in a lab can be,” said Prox-1 Project Manager and
fifth-year AE student Kiichiro Deluca. “Seeing the progress the
students made and how the satellite brought them together was
the most rewarding part of the Prox-1 project” The Prox-1
project was particularly ambit