SPARTAN-V Selective Pointing Apparatus for Research of Turbulence and Atmospheric Noise Variation Brian Ibeling and Christopher Nie

Mission Premise NASA’s Kepler Mission uses the photometric output of stars to determine if there is a planet transiting a star 11/17/2018

Mission Premise The cost of Kepler is estimated to be $600 million for 3.5 years of funding. For a fraction of the cost, is it possible to detect exoplanets transiting stars from a balloon based observatory? 11/17/2018

HASP Background High Altitude Student Platform 2010 SPARTAN-V Team won a large payload spot January 2010 Launch August 28, 2011 out of Ft. Sumner, New Mexico Platform ascends on a zero pressure NASA balloon to 36 km and floats for up to 36 hours experiencing both day and night conditions 11/17/2018

Mission Background The Main Question High Altitude Balloon Observatories reach an altitude of 36 km (120,000 feet), over 99.5% of Earth’s atmosphere. The Main Question Are the scattering effects of the remaining 0.5% atmosphere minimal enough to be able to detect an exoplanet transit at 120,000 feet? 11/17/2018

SPARTAN-V Mission Mission Statement Mission Objectives The SPARTAN-V mission seeks to determine the feasibility of detecting transiting exoplanets upon a Balloon-Based Observatory at an altitude of 120,000 feet. This mission will also characterize the stability of the HASP platform for future missions. Mission Objectives Objective 1: Observe photometric stability of zeroth to fourth magnitude star from the Stratosphere. Objective 2: Observe and maintain star within our field of view. Objective 3: Measure amplitude and frequency of pointing errors typical to balloon environment. 11/17/2018

Scientific Mission Primary scientific goals: Attain and characterize scintillation and extinction values. Demonstrate that this can be done for multiple groups of stars. In order to accomplish this goal we will be building a custom folded refractor telescope with a QSI 504ME CCD. The primary scientific goal is to attain and characterize scintillation and extinction values and demonstrate that this can be done for multiple groups of stars. 11/17/2018

Telescope Design 11/17/2018

Telescope Design 11/17/2018

Telescope Design 11/17/2018

Telescope Design 11/17/2018

Telescope Design 11/17/2018

SPARTAN-V Design 11/17/2018

Pointing Precision: Yaw Bearing Design Ultra-slim Kadon Bearing KA030XPO Sustains radial, thrust, and moment loads 643 lbs dynamic radial 1010 lbs dynamic thrust 785 inch-pound dynamic moment Rotary table Bearing Freefall Collar Top Plate 11/17/2018

Pointing Precision: Yaw Motor Preloading Linear Preloading to maintain normal force (and therefore frictional force) between Motor Coupling and Rotary table Motor Coupling Third Point Support Front Plate Top Plate Slider Shafts Spring Flange Mounts Rotary Table Stepper Motor Talk about friction probs 11/17/2018

Sensors for Control Gyros On-board image analyzation Will measure platform rotation rate. This rate can be integrated over time to give change in angular position. Motors in yaw and pitch axes will be commanded to counteract this motion. On-board image analyzation If find adjustments are needed. 11/17/2018

Post Flight Analysis The science data will consist of approximately 2,000 images. Since star locations within our images will vary, the stars will be stacked using IDL. Through this analysis, we will identify the noise variance on the photometry of multiple star fields. 11/17/2018

Questions? 11/17/2018