Introducing Telecommunication Systems to Astronautics Students: A Laboratory of Receiving Weather Images from NOAA Satellites

Recent years have seen growing importance of telecommunications in space technologies. As a result, telecommunications is listed by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) organization as one of the six required topics that need to be covered in sufficient depth for astronautical engineering programs. To introduce telecommunication systems to astronautics students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ, a laboratory of receiving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather satellite images is developed. The paper discusses the background and motivation of the lab, and details its hardware and software setup. The implementation of the lab and its complementary lecture-class component are also discussed, along with samples of received weather satellite images.