Imagine RIT
Exhibit Highlight
RIT’s METEOR Team Seeks “Final Frontier”
When satellite technology first became a reality in the 1950’s and 60’s the cost and complexity of the equipment involved made it virtually impossible for individuals or even most businesses to utilize them. However, today’s innovations in engineering and computer science have combined with the opening up of space for scientific and business purposes to allow many individuals and groups to enter ‘The Final Frontier.’
At Rochester Institute of Technology the Microsystems Engineering and Technology for the Exploration of Outer Space Regions or METEOR team is currently working to design and launch its own satellite, which will be used as a teaching vehicle for RIT and other universities and provide data support for a wide variety of research projects related to astrophysics and engineering. The team is also designing the rocket that will be used to launch the satellite into space and has developed a mission control center on campus from which they can track and communicate with the equipment once it is in orbit.
The team will be providing information and several exhibits on the project as part of the Imagine Festival, being held at RIT on May 3. The exhibits will include a demonstration of METEOR’s mission control facility in room 4100 in the IT Collaboratory. Here, students will communicate with current satellites now in orbit, that have been launched by other research organizations, and be able to track movements for visitors, similar to what one would see at NASA’s mission control. The team will also display current components they have designed and built for both the satellite and rocket portions of the project.
“This project not only provides an amazing opportunity for the students involved but also assists in promoting the potential of engineering to the general public,” notes Dorin Patru, assistant professor of electrical engineering and faculty advisor to METEOR. “It is my hope that children who see this project at the Imagine Fest will become interested in the concepts behind the technology and ultimately become our next generation of engineers and scientists.”
The METEOR team is now in the testing and evaluation phase and is conducting rocket and communication experiments to improve equipment performance and design. The team has also executed several high altitude balloon launches to test the satellite prototype and hope to complete initial testing and begin preparation for launch some time in 2009.