Sean Young
Stanford University
Exploration of the outer solar system, starting with the early Pioneer probes, has given humankind a glimpse into the nature of the gas and ice giants. The moons of Jupiter have transformed from Galilean sketches into entire worlds that we can observe and physically understand, giving great insight into our own planet and the formation of the solar system. However, despite all the observations we have collected, there are still far more secrets to uncover. Measurements of the outer planetary environments are much more difficult to obtain due to the expense of sending a spacecraft to investigate and, as such, we have a very limited capability to resolve phenomena spatially and temporally. Using this technique with small spacecraft like CubeSats rather than large, monolithic spacecraft in the outer planets would greatly enhance understanding of their environments, while decreasing mission costs.
Compounding the lack of data are the harsh environments surrounding the outer planets. Even in Earth’s orbit, dangers from solar and cosmic radiation, space plasmas, space debris, and meteoroids have contributed to numerous mission failures over the years. These hazards, though destructive, present an omnipresent energy source in the space environment. Rather than succumbing to this danger, an opportunity exists to harness these resources.
The goal of this research is to develop a Space Environmental Electrical Power Subsystem (SEEPS) by: characterizing the most promising alternative power sources applicable to deep space distributed sensing and long term interstellar missions; design prototype SEEPS hardware to harvest this energy effectively; validate, optimize, and iterate on these designs through simulation and experiment; and begin design work on a SEEPS module for a CubeSat.