Hypothesized Surface: Returning Samples – FAMU-FSU (Storage)
INSTITUTION
Florida A&M University-Florida State University
CLASS
Nickel Class (2020 – 2021)
STUDENT TEAM
Marcus Hatchett, Mechanical Engineering
Michael Macedo, Mechanical Engineering
Luke Remillard, Mechanical Engineering
Robert Zube, Mechanical Engineering
Kimberly Rillon, Engineering Management (ASU)
ACADEMIC GUIDANCE
Dr. Joe Juarez, Lecturer, School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, ASU
Dr. Shayne McConomy, Teaching Faculty, Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU School of Engineering
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The NASA Psyche Mission is set to launch in 2022 and arrive at the asteroid in 2026. It is an orbiter mission and will not land on the surface. It is possible to imagine, however, that after learning about Psyche from orbit, there may be scientists and engineers interested in proposing a subsequent mission to return samples from the asteroid to Earth. Designing to the range of hypothesized surfaces and extreme terrain that might be found at Psyche (and keeping in mind other constraints such as its gravity), the team designed a system that could take cached samples and return them to Earth. They also designed a transport system that would preserve the integrity of the samples coming from the range of hypothesized surface materials of Psyche, which could include: mostly flat metallic surface, flat metallic with metal and/or rocky debris, rough/high-relief metallic and/or rocky terrain, high-relief metallic crater walls.