Department+of+Aerospace+Engineering
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Prof. Kwon Unveils Home-Made Lunar Module
A KAIST research team led by Prof. Se-Jin Kwon at the Department of Aerospace Engineering has unveiled a small lunar module developed in cooperation with engineers at a local company, Space Solutions, university authorities said on Thursday (Nov. 27).
The home-made lunar module, the vehicle that conducts survey on the surface of the moon, is 40 centimeters tall and weighs 25 kg. Equipped with a liquid-fuel rocket engine with a maximum thrust of 350 newtons (N), it is capable of carrying objects weighing around 20 kg to the lunar space from the space ship. Professor Kwon"s team held a demonstration of the lander for journalists at a KAIST lab on Friday (Nov. 28).
Lunar landers are critical in developing lunar spacecraft, and countries with advanced aerospace technologies have been careful to protect their core technologies.
According to Prof. Kwon, every part of the rocket engine, including the catalyst, was home made. The rocket"s propulsion system features a state-of-the-art propellant valve developed by Space Solutions, which enables thrust control.
Lunar modules between the 100 and 200 kilogram range, developed by NASA (U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration), costs around $100 million, said Kwon. "It is expensive to guarantee the safety of developers of an American module because the fuel contains carcinogens. But the rocket engine created by KAIST team could cut development costs to about half that because it is powered by environmentally friendly fuel," he said.
The lander, product of a six-year-long effort, represents remarkable advancement in the technology for developing spacecraft for lunar missions.
2008.12.01 View 11295 -
Prof. Lee Plants Commemorative Flower at NUAA
Prof. Lee Plants Commemorative Flower at NUAA
Professor In Lee of Aerospace Engineering planted a commemorative flower - Hibiscus, the national flora of South Korea - at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) on May 25, 2007. While some Chinese Nobel laureates have planted commemorative trees, Professor Lee is the first foreigner who has planted a commemorative flower at NUAA. His planting is expected to contribute to opening academic and research exchanges between South Korea and China.
NUAA is the top university of China in the field of Aerospace Engineering and a technical university consisting of 2,800 faculty and staff and 26,000 students.
NUAA has colleges of Aerospace Engineering, Science, Engineering, Management, Art, Humanity, Foreign Language, and International Education and actively promotes international academic and research exchanges and international student program.
2007.06.12 View 12134 -
Professor Sejin Kwon develops thruster for small satellite
- World’s first application of high-performance liquid propellant to small satellite thruster
- Show about four times higher thrust performance than the cold gas thruster of University of Surrey, the state-of-the-art technology in the field of small satellite
- Expect a considerable contribution to the extension of the lifespan and mission range of small satellites
The team of Professor Sejin Kwon (Department of Aerospace Engineering in KAIST/ President Nam Pyo Suh) and Space Solution Inc. (President Jaehun Lee) have jointly developed a micro thruster for small satellite motion-control.
Kwon"s team has succeeded in developing an integrated thruster which can be mounted on a satellite by integrating catalyst reactor and propellant-supplying system, which are the core technologies of small satellite thruster system.
For the first time in the world, Kwon’s team employs a high-performance liquid propellant to the thruster.
In the thruster, liquid-state hydrogen peroxide is dissolved into vapor and oxygen at the catalytic layer to emit a huge amount of heat. And, the emitted heat is converted into the kinetic energy of the gas to produce a propulsive force.
This thruster can perform the motion-control of a several tens-kilogram satellite with a propulsive force of less than one Newton and shows about four times higher thrust performance than the cold gas thruster of University of Surrey, who possesses the state-of-the-art technologies in the field of small satellites.
Professor Kwon said, “Although University of Surrey has also tried to develop a similar system, it’s not yet solved the problem on catalytic reactor bed. I expect this thruster will considerably contribute to the extension of the lifespan and mission range of scientific small satellites. Also, this thruster can be employed for the attitude control of the upper end of the launch vehicle, which is now being developed by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).”
<Thruster module for small satellite application>
2006.09.05 View 13999