We supported a very talented team of engineers to design, manufacture, and certify the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) FASTSAT Satellite flown on the Minotaur IV Launch Vehicle. Using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and classical hand analysis techniques, we performed the stress and dynamics analysis on the entire FASTSAT Satellite, including all payload/experiment interfaces and mission-related equipment.
We conducted detailed stress, dynamics, and stability analyses on the satellite primary and secondary structure and the interfaces to the launch vehicle. We generated a set of design loads used in the stress analysis, including random vibration, sinusoidal vibration, transient, quasi-static, and shock loads.
We conducted a modal survey test of the assembly to verify the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the satellite. Pre-test and post-test data was used to correlate the results for the finite element model.
We also supported the FASTSAT Project as the test engineer for several flight acceptance tests, including random vibration, sinusoidal vibration, and shock. All analyses were documented to support the NASA flight readiness process.