Student CubeSat Program

Welcome to the CubeSat Program

The Launchbox program is has been set up so that students can design and launch CubeSats using a high altitude balloon as a launch vehicle. The pilot program involves 8 schools in South Australia. If further funding is made available, the second stage will allow the program to be opened to other schools.

The curriculum map outlining the program can be downloaded here.

There are a series of lessons, presentations and activities in the program. Please open the file for each lesson by clicking on the highlighted link. The file can then be downloaded to your computer or just viewed on the screen. The lesson plans explain the nature of the lesson and the resources required. The resources and activity sheets are in the student resources column.

There is a list of technical information provided after the lesson information for teachers in particular but also interested students who would like a more detailed explantion about the components, both hardware and software, of the CubeSat.

Note: The lesson plans and activities can be freely used by those schools particpating in the Launchbox CubeSat program. This material can also be used by any teachers but please let us know how you use it by contacting us via email at information@vssec.vic.edu.au. This aids in the reporting and funding of our programs.

Lesson	Teacher Resources	Student Activities and Resources
Lesson 1	Lesson Plan              Prior Knowledge Ppt	Introductory Presentation  CubeSat Specificiations
Lesson 2	Lesson Plan              Design Diagram          Role of Leaders	Concurrent Design pre-class activity     Investigations overview  Design Choices
Lesson 3	Lesson Plan                   Formatting the SD Card (new version to come)	A Safe Flight Path         Balloon Altitude and Flight Time  Weather Conditions   Battery Analysis        The importance of Data Storage  Hero Camera Manual      Atmospheric Investigations    Land Use under the Flight Path  Presentation          Presentation Notes  Distance to the Horizon
Lesson 4	Lesson Plan	Introduction: Testing Your CubeSat Presentation    Questions       Note: If the YouTube video cannot be viewed through the presentation then click here to view it. Testing the effect of Temperature  Testing the Parachute       Testing the GPS   Instructions on formating, using and downloading data from the SD card
Lesson 5	Lesson Plan	Downloading and Using the Data   Example Text File   (Internet Explorer: right click on the icon and click on "save target as" or Firefox "save link as") Analysis of the Data
Lesson 6	Lesson Plan	Simulation and Predictive Software  Sources of Uncertainty

Technical Specifications

Balloon Logger Electronics Description 

Arduino Processor    

Digital Pressure Sensor:  Datasheet  Breakout 

Formating the SD Card       Holder    Breakout 

(New version of Formating SD card to come)

GPS  

Detailed Needs and Requirements:

Hardware: List     Summary Information  

Arduino Code

To run and edit the code, first download and install the arduino program from the arduino website.

 Arduino Code (updated 26/08/14):  Internet Explorer: Right click on the icon and click on "save target as"  or  Firefox: "save link as"