<p>Contact:<br />Barry B. Goeree<br />goeree@u.arizona.edu<br /><br />Brian Shucker<br />bshucker@u.arizona.edu<br /><br />Ernest Fasse<br />520-626-9032<br />fasse@u.arizona.edu<br /><br /><br />University of Arizona doctoral student Barry B. Goeree and UA senior Brian<br />Shucker placed first in the student paper competition at the 13th Annual<br />American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics/ Utah State University<br />Conference on Small Satellites held Aug. 23-26 in Logan, Utah.<br /><br />Goeree and Shucker won a $7,000 cash prize for their paper entitled:<br />"Geometric Attitude Control of a Small Satellite for Ground Tracking<br />Maneuvers." This paper is about the written software for pointing the<br />telescope so it receives laser communication signals as it passes over the<br />ground station.<br /><br />Both said they were very honored to receive this award. "Being an<br />undergraduate, it was exciting just for me just to show up (to the<br />conference). Having the chance to present was an honor, and winning first<br />place was a complete surprise," stated Shucker.<br /><br />"Of course, there are others who deserve much of the credit. It_s impossible<br />to thank Barry, Dr.(Ernest) Fasse, and the rest of the team enough," Shucker<br />also said. "It felt great to win the award. It is a recognition of the<br />quality of the work done by the Guidance, Navigation, and Control Team over<br />the past two years," Goeree said.<br /><br />"Both Barry and Brian worked hard on the project. I am glad that their<br />efforts were recognized. This should open some doors for them career wise. I<br />hope this will motivate other students on the project to keep working hard,<br />do neat things and have some fun along the way," said team mentor and UA<br />assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering Ernest Fasse.<br /><br />About 500 representatives from universities, industry, government agencies<br />and labs in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Canada gathered at the<br />annual international conference to discuss recent successes, explore new<br />directions, and introduce emerging technologies in small spacecraft<br />development, according to Fasse.<br /><br />The work was financially supported by the UA aeronautics and mechanical<br />engineering department, the Carinoso Foundation, the College of Arts and<br />Sciences, the College of Engineering and Mines, the Honors College and the<br />NASA Space Grant Undergraduate Research Internship Program. Goeree, Shucker<br />and Fasse said they also are grateful for technical support from the<br />Dynacon, Honeywell, and Motorola companies.<br /><br />The UA Student Satellite Project began in late fall of 1996 when physics<br />Professor K.C. "John" Hsieh formed a team with colleagues who have expertise<br />in designing and building satellites and other researchers who wanted to see<br />their instruments in orbit. The SSP first attracted over 70 students from<br />two colleges at the UA.<br /><br />"They (Goree and Shucker) have given the Student Satellite Project as a<br />whole great prestige by winning this award, and even found time while<br />winning first place to bring back some great contact information for other<br />teams in the project," said Jon Alberding, SSP project manager.<br /><br />*************<br />Related links:<br />http://www.u.arizona.edu/~goeree/utah99.pdf<br />http://uasat.arizona.edu<br />http://uasat.arizona.edu/gnc<br /><br />**************<br /></p>