New Brunswick students collecting data for NASA as part of Artemis II mission

The world has been collectively anticipating the launch of Artemis II but five university students in New Brunswick are keeping an especially close eye on the mission to the moon.

The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is the only academic institution in Canada tracking the astronaut’s spacecraft, Orion, alongside NASA.

The 10-day mission will carry NASA astronauts, including Canadian Jeremy Hansen, on a free-return trajectory around the moon — making it the first crewed mission to the moon since 1972.

In Fredericton, UNB electrical and computer engineering professor Brent Petersen says he and his students will soon learn whether their months of preparations have been successful.

“It will be encouraging to have the students involved and participate in this. Didn’t expect I’d be here one year ago,” he said.

The New Brunswick group is part of 34 companies, space agencies, individuals, and universities around the world that are officially tracking the mission.

The volunteer program allows them to complement the data NASA is gathering to help the space agency better understand the broader aerospace community’s tracking capabilities.

Petersen and his students will be using their satellite dish at the UNB Earth Station atop Gillin Hall to track the spacecraft, saving data on computers so that it can be analyzed later and seeing from where signals are received.

“In fact, NASA would like the data to be uploaded as soon as possible. At least every day because that might give them information they’re looking for,” he said.

“I can’t speculate to what they’re doing, but they’re interested in date, time, and the frequency that we receive.”

Petersen says the UNB Earth Station was never designed for deep space, however it was able to pick up signals from the James Webb Space Telescope, which is located about 1.5 million km from earth.

“The moon is only 300,000 km from Earth’s surface so it bodes well for our Earth Station being able to pick up signals from Artemis II,” he said.

He says the students selected from the university to work on this project have amateur radio licences and have been working for eight months on the technical aspects of tracking Orion.

“I’m in my last year, so I’m taking every opportunity, getting my foot in the door, in the space industry (and) actually being part of a real space mission,” said Olivia Ferry Rice, a sixth-year software engineering student.

Chris Carson, a fourth-year electrical engineering student, shares that dream of having a career in space.

“I would love to go into a career in space, and mix that with what I’ve been learning in school,” said Carson.

“It’s nice to be able to help out with NASA and to be able to contribute to a real moon mission.”

For Petersen, the experience is both new and exhilarating, too. He says he realizes what an important role they have to play in this mission and the importance of their contribution.

“I feel like I’m a student again because I’m working hard to try and put everything in place and help everybody, and it’s like NASA will be grading me,” he said.