The University Nanosat-3 program involves 13 universities nationwide, each university building one satellite with the hope that it will be launched into space. However, only one satellite will be chosen to go up with a space shuttle in 2006.

"The one that's most flyable is the one that gets to fly," said Sven Bilén, LionSat adviser and assistant professor of engineering design and electrical engineering. "It's a major systems engineering project."

The Penn State satellite is called the Local Ionospheric Measurements Satellite, or LionSat.

"For students, having this opportunity at the university level is extremely positive," Bilén said.

Primarily aerospace, mechanical and electrical engineering undergraduates contribute to the fabrication, which some use as their senior design projects.

"We like to have younger students because they can see the whole thing to completion," said systems integration team leader Erika Mendoza (senior-aerospace engineering).

However, "grad students are primarily the continuity from semester to semester," said deputy program manager Brendan Surrusco (graduate-electrical engineering).

The satellite is quite small, just a little bigger than a computer monitor. This reflects the name of the program, University Nanosat-3, in which "nano" means "extremely small." The sponsors' parameters stipulate a maximum weight of 66 pounds. Penn State's eight-sided spacecraft has a diameter of 18.5 inches and a height of 18.3 inches. Solar panels line the outside of the satellite and there is a "belly band" in the middle of it, which has sensors, probes and radio-frequency ion thrusters, Mendoza said.

"It's actually a big project between a lot of different teams," said student project manager Valerie Mistoco (graduate-electrical engineering). There are 11 teams that work on various sub-systems of LionSat, and each team consists of at least five people.

One team deals specifically with scientific instruments on the satellite, such as the hybrid plasma probe. The probe being developed at Penn State is very experimental because it has four different operational modes in one, Mendoza said.

The plasma probe is designed to study plasma -- ionized gas of low density -- in the upper atmosphere, known as the ionosphere. "We're really trying to find out more information on what it's like up there," Mendoza said.

"We measure properties of the plasma and observe changes due to seasons, day and night and solar flares," said plasma probe team leader Rob Siegel (graduate-electrical engineering). "All of these things affect plasma properties."

The probe measures electron and ion density as well as electron temperature, since solar winds blow electrons and ions into the ionosphere, Siegel said. Among other things, Mendoza said the probe may allow researchers to look at new ways of protecting spacecraft and astronauts from this hazardous atmosphere.

In addition to this instrument, the propulsion team is constructing a miniature radio frequency ion thruster. Instead of burning fuel, this part expels ions, producing thrust to propel the satellite, Mendoza said.

Although it has a high specific impulse, which will propel the satellite for a long time, it yields a lower initial thrust compared to other thrusters. Therefore, to propel the satellite initially, it must be on for a long duration of time.

"The design challenge is that it uses a lot of power," Mendoza said.

This part is also used as a way to control LionSat's spin rate, Mistoco said. "A lot of spacecraft don't use ion thrusters," she said, which makes this piece revolutionary.

Another team is involved with command and data handling, which is "basically the satellite's brain cells," Surrusco said. This team works on the mechanism by which the satellite's computer can "interface with other systems on the satellite" in an effort to get communications from other parts within the satellite, he said.

Because there are so many parts in this project, communication is integral. As a result, one team plays the role of "mission control," orchestrating communications between LionSat and the ground. The satellite will use high-tech Internet Protocol communication, which is a wireless Internet link, for return of science data, Mistoco said.

The guidance, navigation and control team uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver made for spacecraft that "lets LionSat be able to figure out where it is using geographic coordinates."

However, this GPS system receiver is very sophisticated and "is not the typical one a camper would use," he said.

LionSat may take measurements in space, Mistoco said, but the students are really more interested in simply seeing the instruments function correctly in space. Many of the team members are also anxious to see if their experimental products can be applied to other small satellites.

Other sub-system teams of LionSat are power, thermal, structure, ground handling and systems integration. This last team plans the project schedule, gathers documentation and makes sure all the design teams meet requirements, Mendoza said.

One of the most important teams that reflects LionSat's goals is educational outreach. At various formal project review sessions, this team is evaluated on outreach to students in kindergarten through 12th grade and college, Mendoza said.

"LionSat is very education-oriented" and gives engineering students real-world experience, Surrusco said. Leaders encourage members to go to their former high schools, speak and hand out brochures.

Surrusco is one of three students, including two undergraduates, who plan to attend a workshop in Albuquerque, N.M., in November to learn more about building satellites and look for more ways in which this little object can make a big impact.