High-fives soared as UNB researchers successfully picked up signals from NASA’s Integrity spacecraft as it travelled to the moon and back last April. It’s a major milestone for UNB, the only Canadian university involved in tracking the Orion spacecraft's integrity on its journey.

Dr. Brent Petersen, professor of communications in UNB’s department of electrical and computer engineering, along with student researcher Megan MacDonald, confirmed detection of a radio frequency transmission from Integrity during early morning operations at the UNB Earth Station. It was a moment that underscored years of preparation, collaboration and research.

“On Saturday, April 4, at the UNB Earth Station, Megan MacDonald and I were able to detect the radio frequency transmission of Integrity at 08:12 Coordinated Universal Time. That’s 5:12 a.m. Atlantic Daylight Time. Integrity was 16.5 degrees above the horizon, and the azimuth was 186.5 degrees, which meant the antenna was looking over the Student Union Building.”

NASA selected UNB as one of only three Canadian contributors helping to track Integrity during its approximately 10-day mission around the moon. Of the three Canadian potential contributors, UNB was the only Canadian university involved.

UNB’s contribution brought together expertise from CubeSatNB, the department of electrical and computer engineering, the department of geodesy and geomatics engineering, and the UNB Earth Station. The multidisciplinary team supports hands-on learning and advanced research in satellite communications.

As part of a global network of academic partners, commercial providers and volunteer stations, UNB helped passively track Integrity’s radio signals during its voyage to and from the moon, contributing real-world data to a historic space mission.

“Aerospace engineering is alive and well at UNB,” says Dr. Richard Langley, professor of geodesy and precision navigation in the department of geodesy and geomatics engineering.