Tag: 201029

Moon mission

Local grad working on EagleCam project

Bedford High School grad William Edwards, now an undergrad at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, is one of 20 students working on “EagleCam,” the first-ever student project to be sent to the moon. Edwards talked about the mission of the project, his role on the project’s software team and what he is learning from this unique opportunity.

Why did you decide to go to Embry-Riddle and pursue a career in aeronautics?

I just like planes, honestly — aviation, aerospace, pretty much any fields having to do with flying or space. It’s something I was always interested in, even as a kid, and I just never lost interest. … A close family friend who knew I was really into aviation recommended the school to me because he knew it was a very good aviation-based school.

What is the EagleCam project?

It’s a module that’s going to be a payload on a Nova-C launcher from the company Intuitive Machines. The goal of the project is to take a third-person photo of the lunar lander actually landing on the surface of the moon. As the lander is coming down on the surface, it’s going to jettison our payload, and our EagleCam is going to take pictures of the lunar lander and send the pictures back to the lander via WiFi, and then the lander is going to send the data back to Earth. That’s the minimum requirements of this project. We’d also like EagleCam to continue to take pictures after it has landed to collect some information on dust plumes as the lunar lander actually makes its descent, and hopefully take some pictures of Earth as well.

How did you end up working on the EagleCam?

I actually had a friend of mine recommend me for it. She was already working on it, and I found out about it and said, ‘That sounds really cool,’ and she said, ‘Well, we need some extra help. Do you want to hop on?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely.’ … One of the reasons I came to Embry-Riddle is that I’ve always wanted to work on something important like this, like anything to do with research, and especially anything to do with space, so once I heard that this was a project based on the moon, I was like, ‘Absolutely, I need to do this.’

What is your role?

We have a couple teams. There’s the electrical engineering team, and they’re the ones who actually choose the computer that goes on board and the cameras that go on board, and they’re going to figure out the connections between our EagleCam and the Nova-C launcher. I’m on the software team, so I’m going to be the one who’s controlling the function of the cameras, when the payload is going to be jettisoned and the way the pictures are going to be taken. Also, the pictures are going to be taken with 186-degree cameras, so afterward we have to do some software post-processing to make the pictures look like normal-field-of-view pictures instead of wide-field-of-view pictures.

What are you working on right now, specifically?

Right now I’m just having to learn the [software] framework, and I’m making an application that controls the camera lens cleaners, so that if any dust particles get on the camera lens we can clean them off.

What’s the most exciting part of this experience for you?

I think it’s just the excitement of being able to do all of this and work on it for so long, and knowing that we’re going to get an end result that I could even make a screensaver on my phone. It’s also a great experience for me as a software engineer to actually be using NASA-based software frameworks to control our EagleCam and the jettison and any internal functions that we have on.

What has been the biggest challenge?

Learning the NASA software framework. It’s called cFS, and it’s a lot of C code, which I’m not too familiar with, so spending the first two or three weeks learning that has been pretty difficult.

Do you think the EagleCam project is helping to prepare you for what you want to do in the future?

Yes, most definitely. As a software engineer, being able to work on a team with electrical engineers and aerospace engineers is definitely an important skill. Since I want to be working in the aerospace industry, having the skills to communicate with them and understand what they’re doing and understand how my code influences their decisions and vice versa is definitely very important to me.

EagleCam
The Nova-C launcher carrying the EagleCam will launch in October 2021. To follow the progress of the project, see @ERAUEagleCam on Instagram and visit daytonabeach.erau.edu/eaglecam.

Featured photo: William Edwards. Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 20/10/29

Covid-19 updateAs of October 19As of October 126
Total cases statewide9,74610,397
Total current infections statewide1,0201,002
Total deaths statewide468475
New cases603 (Oct. 12 to Oct. 19)651 (Oct. 20 to Oct. 26)
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Covid-19 news

During an Oct. 22 press conference, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan provided a public health update on New Hampshire’s ongoing fight against Covid-19, saying that the state has seen about 80 new infections per day on average over the last one to two weeks.

With its updated numbers on Oct. 23, New Hampshire surpassed 10,000 positive tests for the virus since the start of the pandemic in March. Despite this, the state has the third lowest rate of new cases of Covid-19 per capita in the country, according to Gov. Chris Sununu, with the test-positivity rate continuing to be at around 1 percent.

Also on Oct. 23, the Governor’s Economic Re-Opening Task Force released new guidance documents for hockey and indoor ice arenas in the state, following a two-week “pause” that began on Oct. 15 of all indoor ice activities due to multiple Covid-19 outbreaks. All rink staff, volunteers, athletes, referees and coaches are required to be tested for the virus before Nov. 6. The guidance for indoor ice facilities prohibits restaurants, bars and arcades from being used, encourages sneeze guard barriers at check-in/check-out counters, and requires a one-way flow of foot traffic throughout the facility, with specific entry and exit points.

Details of Sununu’s Emergency Orders, Executive Orders, Re-Opening guidance documents and more can be found at governor.nh.gov.

Emergency order violations

Two businesses have been fined for not complying with the governor’s coronavirus emergency orders, and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office continues to get complaints from customers about noncompliance, according to an Oct. 26 report from WMUR. The complaints are mainly about workers not wearing masks and businesses not enforcing social distancing. According to an Oct. 19 press release, Fat Katz in Hudson was sent a notice of violation assessing a $2,000 civil penalty for allegedly bringing karaoke indoors. According to WMUR, New England Flag Football was also fined $2,000 for violations. “We were very clear in writing to those organizations and businesses as to what they needed to do, and they both confirmed with us they understood that and then they proceeded to do different things,” Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards said, according to WMUR. More fines are expected to be issued in the next few weeks as the Attorney General’s Office continues to investigate complaints, Edwards said.

Fire ban lifted

State officials have lifted the ban on certain fires now that some soaking rains have reduced the potential for wildfires, according to a press release. Kindling of open fires is now allowed, as is smoking outdoors in or near public woodlands or on public trails, and permits are once again available for fires greater than four feet in diameter and not contained within a ring of fire-resistive material. Permits are always required for any open burning, according to the release, and can be obtained from a local fire department or at nhfirepermit.com.

MediGap shopping

There’s a new free interactive online dashboard to help consumers who are shopping for Medicare Supplement (MediGap) plans, the New Hampshire Insurance Department announced in a press release. The dashboard will allow consumers to find and compare rates based on their gender, age, plan type and preferred company. MediGap policies help cover some health care costs that Medicare does not, including copayments, coinsurance and deductibles, according to the release. The rates on the dashboard are available during an individual’s open enrollment, a six-month period that begins the month the person turns 65 and has Medicare Part A and Part B, though people who are changing plans or want to get a renewal rate can contact specific companies directly, according to the release. Visit nh.gov/insurance or call 1-866-634-9412.

Drought assistance

Low-income New Hampshire homeowners who have residential wells with insufficient or no water because of the drought can get short-term relief and financial assistance with a new initiative from the state’s Drinking Water and Groundwater Advisory Commission and Department of Environmental Services. According to a press release, short-term relief will be available in the form of free bottled water deliveries for people whose income is at or below 80 percent of the area median household income and who have no water due to the ongoing drought. This is a temporary measure to ensure that everyone has access to clean water for drinking and cooking. For permanent drought relief, financial assistance will be available for improving or replacing residential wells, or to connect to an existing community water system. “Given the severity of the drought, recent precipitation has done relatively little to alter drought conditions impacting residential wells in New Hampshire,” NHDES Commissioner Bob Scott said in the release. “Residents still need to take every action to conserve water now and for the foreseeable future.” Income eligibility requirements and financial assistance information can be found at des.nh.gov.

Drug disposal

Last week, the New Hampshire Hospital Association, the New Hampshire Department of Education and the Foundation for Healthy Communities partnered with the Public Health Networks and the Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative of New Hampshire to distribute 25,000 prescription drug disposal bags throughout the state, according to a press release. In the past few months, 50,000 of the Deterra Drug Deactivation disposal pouches, donated by RALI NH, have been distributed as part of an effort to educate families on safe medicine storage and disposal practices. Making sure prescription medications are securely stored out of the reach of children and safely disposing of unused or expired medications can help prevent drug misuse, the release said. Find take-back locations at ralinh.org

At a press conference in Concord on Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it is awarding more than $12.3 million to agencies in New Hampshire to help protect children and families from lead-based paint and home health hazards, according to a press release. The week of Oct. 25 through Oct. 31 is Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.

Free meal boxes that include 12 pounds of produce, 5 pounds of meat, 5 pounds of dairy and a gallon of 2-percent milk will be distributed to families in need on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 9 to 11 a.m. at SNHU Arena in Manchester, according to a press release. The food is being provided by Granite United Way, in partnership with the YMCA of Downtown Manchester, Southern New Hampshire University and the Manchester School District.

A socially distant groundbreaking ceremony for the new location of Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire is scheduled to be held Thursday, Oct. 29, at 3 Crown St. in Nashua. The renovated space will provide transitional housing to more than 25 families, which is double its current capacity, according to a press release.

The vote

In just a few days we may have an election that sees one of the highest turnout rates ever — and this is during a pandemic.

Many voting models suggest that as many as 150 million people will cast ballots in the Nov. 3 election. That’s about 65 percent of eligible voters nationwide.

In New Hampshire turnout is expected to be at an even higher rate, likely over 70 percent of eligible voters.

According to the New York Times on Oct. 26, about 61.3 million votes nationwide have already been cast in the 2020 election — a record number.

In a map on the Times website, they demonstrated how that number represents 44 percent of the total vote in 2016. In New Hampshire, 181,577 votes have been cast so far, according to WMUR’s politics newsletter on Oct. 27.

As with many states, New Hampshire made it easier for voters to vote by absentee ballot in this time of the coronavirus. This election, with our ability to request a ballot and return it to the town clerk — even all within the same day, if you wanted — we got a taste of something very close to the early voting that other states offer.

But this easy absentee voting isn’t something we’ll likely see for the next election. Here voting generally means going in person to polling places that are generally open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for one day. But planning when in your day to vote isn’t always easy. It can be hard to break away from work or to go in the early morning or the evening when it means there might be a line and you’re crunched for time. Many school districts make Election Day a holiday, which means you have to figure out what to do with the kids when you make your voting plans. What if there’s a wait? What if they get fidgety?

Forget gaming out what party benefits from what kind of voting; there’s something to be said for just getting more voters involved, and not just during the presidential election years but for other elections as well.

What would offering people more options for when they vote — by mail or in person before Election Day — look like in New Hampshire? What would it mean to have more Granite Staters exercising their right to have a say? In the aftermath of this election, it’s worth taking a closer look at making voting easier for everybody, not just those who have some flexibility in their Tuesdays.

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