8/26 meeting

We break 10 people to 3 group for next 3 meetings. each group will have a group presentation for next 3 weeks. the following is the name list for 3 groups

Group 1:  Rover Power on Mars
Nathan, Arthur,  Ben, Ryan
For group 1, the following are slides from Nathan. if you have problem to read them, please ask Nathan to send you a copy
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vaF5FdDGn0zdDY3lygV8XqJBy-_fjWSv
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BgCChJMaQPw3iCf1nj_p4HOZTRdjE063047HFz3KP4s/edit#slide=id.p
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lJutdzhc0FbBpr-f4DyL1xIQiKMUcmNpsb1mjhWzPDU/edit#slide=id.p


Group 2: Social problem in space
Chungtai, Kathryn
For group 2, have your own plan to do it.

Group3: Life support System
Sophia, Zoey, Jeremy， JJ
Group 3 please read and watch the following documents and video. Write a summary and list the ideas you think we can do (no solution needed). please send your Summary and ideas to me  @ queencai@gmail.com. Due date is 9/1

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/plant_growth.html

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/science/biofarming.html
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/meals_ready_to_eat
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/meals_ready_to_eat
https://www.towergarden.com/blog.read.html/en/2015/6/flowers_but_no_fruit.html
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/863.html
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/students-help-select-two-of-four-new-plants-heading-to-space
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/students-help-nasa-researchers-decide-what-plants-to-grow-in-space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl350shC4BY&feature=youtu.be

Meeting Minutes 8/19/18

Chungtai’s Presentation - Avoiding Space Debris

• Space Debris is random stuff floating inside space and inside Earth’s orbit
• Spaceships could collide with debris
• Current solution - pizza box detects known space debris and tries to avoid it, however there may not be enough time to avoid certain objects
• Possible solution - Reduce debris, better detection system
• 
  

Nathan’s Presentation - Paper Strength

• Pastepaper, paper used in business cards
• Problem - Get a wind turbine on Mars, very costly
• Solution - Make wind turbine out of paper, much lighter
• Force on Mars with wind would only carry 1% power compared to Earth, so paper is strong enough
• Less gravity and less wind speed on Mars
• Can take field trips in illinois

Jeremy’s Presentation - Food Preservation

• Meals can lose nutrition in a year
• Use MRE technology and Microwave sterilization in order to have a more efficient method in keeping food fresh

Zoe’s Presentation - Pollinating Plants in Space

• Problem - plants need pollination to grow in space
• Different fruits and veggies will give astronauts different nutrition
• You need animals or wind to pollinate

JJ’s Presentation - Protecting Astronauts in Space

• Radiation protection - hydrogen rich materials for spaceship building
• Micrometeoroid Protection - high strength kevlar that stop debris and micrometeoroids
• Solution - water or cheaper method

Sophia’s Presentation - Communicating in Space

• Current - softphone, works through laptops on ISS
• Problem - phone signals sent using ku band, specific frequency of satellite transmissions
• Sometimes the ISS is out of range or the ISS itself can block the signal
• Solution - Satellite can be made more powerful

Arthur Presentation - Different Power Types

• Batteries stores energy made on Earth and releases as electricity, limited power, heavy
• Solar power converts light into electricity, positioning, could be overheated
• RTG thermoelectric generators will generate heat as they turn into non-radioactive materials
• Fuel Cells - Limited time, heavy, dangerous
• Problem - Spacecraft don’t have enough energy

Ryan Presentation -

• Finding which planets can we use to survive
• Using mars
• Finding a flat shady and smooth surface as they are ideal for safety
• Areas near water or ice are also ideal
• Settling near the equator can also allow you to study methane
• There are a lot of problems and hazards on mars
• Nasa can put a magnet on a specific area of the planet and protect the planet from solar storms

M04 Crater Crossing

It looks that there are already discussions about M04. From the official interpretation, it may be allowed if we release something and let is go across the fence. See post #19 on page 2.

https://forums.usfirst.org/forum/general-discussions/first-programs/first-lego-league/the-challenge/rules-missions/84982-m04-crater-crossing

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

M01:
The first track connection is the first white area of the ramp

M04:
The entire robot must cross over

M12:
Above means the satellite can be hovering over the target area

Robot Mission Questions

Here are questions that are still unclear to me at this time.

M01: 

"For each roll, the cart must be Independent by the time it reaches the first track connection. As a Mission requirement in any Mission, the word “Independent” means “not in contact with any of your Equipment.” As long as the cart clearly rolls Independently past the First Track Connection, it’s OK if it doesn’t roll all the way east."

Q: Which one is the First Track Connection? This may affect how we release trucks.

M04:

"All weight-bearing features of the crossing equipment must cross completely between the towers."

Q: What is the crossing equipment? Is it the robot, or some attachment?

M12:

"Move any part of a Satellite on or above the area between the two lines of the Outer Orbit."

Q: What does "above" mean here? Which side is above?

Meeting Minutes 8/12/18

We did some core values activities!

• Sorted ourselves by our birthdays
• Sorted ourselves by favorite food

Next, we presented our project research.

Jeremy:

• Exercising in space
• They need

Nathan:

• Generating energy for rovers stuck in sandstorms
• Martian sandstorms block out sunlight
• Rovers cannot recharge and may eventually run out of battery
• The sandstorms can last up to many months
• Rover goes into low power mode
• Currently using plutonium batteries
• These batteries only produce 8 watts
• We can use wind turbines
• Can produce around 23 watts

Chungtai:

• Better ways to launch rockets
• Currently rockets are launched by burning oxygen, making an explosion
• They are slow and a bit hard to control
• Nuclear fuel could continue propelling rockets to faraway places
• Electromagnetic tethers could act like an extremely strong catapult
• Warp drives could teleport us to other places
• These ideas are currently not possible without a major technological advancement

Zoey:

• Planting in space
• On Earth plants need light, water, and nutrition
• In space it is the same
• Plants grow to light
• Roots grow to nutrition
• Plants being tested
• Red Romaine Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Pepper
• Cabbage
• Need a better watering system
• Need a way to pollinate crops

Ben:

• Food packaging in space
• Canned food is heavy and takes a lot of space
• Dehydrated food requires a lot of water
• Meal packets lose nutrition after a year
• NASA is currently using meal packets a lot

Ryan:

• Living on a new planet
• Try to pick a more specific problem and solution

A compilation of questions for the FLL robot section:
- Is there a specific order that the Core Samples in Mission 5 'Extraction' are placed in?
- What is the thin black line (not outlined in white) for?
- Can you place the meteoroids in Mission 14 'Meteorite Deflection' into the Center or Side of the Meteorite Catcher?
- Of Mission 7 'Space Walk Emergency' Can Gerhard's Body or Ring be supported while being 'partially' within the boundaries of the airlock?

8/5/2018

Hey Guys,
The FLL Season is once again starting, this year's project topic is about space and we will spend the next week exploring new topics about this exotic unknown.

Topic ideas taken from both the FLL Challenge guide and from personal interest,

- Jeremy will explore the significant problem of exercising in space
- Kathryn will work on efficiently recycling waste while in space
- Zoey will contemplate the dilemma of how to grow edible plants while in space
- Chungtai and Arthur will tackle how to generate energy while in space using both reusable and non-reusable sources
- Chungtai will also work on how to perform maintenance on spacecraft
- Ryan decided on how humans can partake in recreational actions while away from our home planet
- My brother and I will work on the ability to inhabit structures on other planets, more specifically, Mars

Each person should bring a presentation of the topic they chose and be prepared to share with the team next meeting.

Yours in FLL,
Nathan Yuan

more videos and articles about this season project topic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99i3T1Cw8z8


life support systems
https://www.nasa.gov/content/life-support-systems

The Challenge is out, please check the links below:

INTO Orbit Challenge

INTO Orbit Challenge Guide

INTO ORBIT Challenge Updates (8/1/2018)

INTO ORBIT Engineering Notebook