Sprite Applications
Environmental Probes
A large-scale distribution of tiny spacecraft report an instantaneous global image of a dataset such as solar or ionospheric weather.
Interplanetary Chemists
A swarm of spacecraft tumble into a planet’s atmosphere and test for the presence of specific chemicals, including organic compounds or life signatures.
In-Orbit Inspection
Benign co-location of Sprite spacecraft with a host spacecraft allows interrogation of the thermal, RF, and particulate environment, assessing the state of health of the parent spacecraft.
Interstellar Explorers
Continuous, periodic spacecraft launches produce a chain of craft racing out of our solar system and reporting data back to Earth by relaying through each subsequent craft. Efficient escape spacecraft can also serve as a form of transmission over distances too large for clear electromagnetic signals, perhaps carrying the human genome or archives of humankind’s history.
For more information, see:
- Atchison and Peck, "Length Scaling in Spacecraft Dynamics"
- Atchison and Peck, "A Passive, Sun-Pointing, Millimeter-Scale Solar Sail"
- Atchison and Peck, "A Passive Microscale Solar Sail"
- Atchison and Peck, "A Millimeter-Scale Lorentz-Propelled Spacecraft"
Sprite Applications
Team Members
- Justin Atchison
M.Eng.
- Zac Manchester
- Sharon Kotz
- Phillipe Tosi
Undergraduates
- Alfred Ernst
- Matt Blair
- Brad Lyon
- Ryan Zhou