The Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection consists of PowerPoint presentations, videos, published articles, research reports, etc. created or collected by Prof. Twiggs during his career as an aerospace engineer and professor of space systems engineering from 1984 to 2025. The collection includes materials created by Prof. Twiggs, along with selected work by other scientists and researchers, and documents small satellite education, university spacecraft projects, and efforts to make space engineering more accessible.

Known as the “Father of the CubeSat,” Prof. Robert “Bob” Twiggs is an American aerospace engineer, educator, and emeritus Professor of Astronautics and Space Science at Morehead State University. He is best known as the co-inventor, with Jordi Puig-Suari, of the CubeSat reference design, a small satellite standard that helped universities, researchers, companies, and government organizations gain more affordable access to space. Twiggs was also critical in the invention and development of several other educational satellite concepts, including CanSat, PocketQube, and ThinSat. Across his career, Twiggs has focused on hands-on STEM education, using small satellites and related projects to teach students how to design, build, test, and operate real space systems.

The materials gathered include course lectures, space systems engineering presentations, student project materials, mission concepts, technical explanations, outreach resources, historical reflections, and related work by colleagues and collaborators in aerospace engineering and satellite construction. Together, the collection shows how small satellites became not only a new class of spacecraft but also a new way to teach engineering, science, teamwork, systems thinking, and innovation. For students, this collection offers a window into the practical foundations of spacecraft design and mission development. For educators, it provides examples of how complex aerospace concepts can be translated into approachable, project-based learning. For historians of spaceflight, it preserves evidence of the educational movement that helped make small satellites a global phenomenon. For engineers and entrepreneurs, it shows how standards, constraints, and simplicity can unlock new forms of participation in space.

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Submissions from 1999

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Joint Space Systems Operations Program, Robert J. Twiggs and Billy Smith

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Microsatellite and Formation Flying Technologies on University Nanosatellites, Robert J. Twiggs

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OPAL: 2nd SSDL Microsatellite, Robert J. Twiggs

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OPAL: A First Generation Microsatellite That Provides Picosat Communications for the Amateur Radio Community, Robert J. Twiggs, James Cutler, Greg Hutchinson, and Jeffrey Williams

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OPAL Launch Opportunity, Robert J. Twiggs

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OPAL Microsatellite, Greg Hutchins

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OPAL Picosatellite Launcher, Robert J. Twiggs

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Opal Press Release: October 28, 1999, Robert J. Twiggs

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OPAL: Project Objectives & Development, Robert J. Twiggs

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OPAL Update, Robert J. Twiggs

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Orion PDR: SSDL Program Overview, Robert J. Twiggs

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Space Systems Development Laboratory, Robert J. Twiggs

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Space Systems Development Laboratory: Teach Systems Engineering, Robert J. Twiggs

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Student Micro/Nano Space Applications, Robert J. Twiggs

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Student Space Program: Stanford University, Robert J. Twiggs

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The Emerald Nanosatellite Mission, Robert J. Twiggs

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University Nanosatellite Distributed Satellite Capabilities to Support TechSat 21, Robert J. Twiggs

Submissions from 1998

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A Small/Micro-/Pico-Satellite Programfor Investigating Thunderstorm-Related Atmospheric Phenomena, Christopher Kitts

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EMERALD: A Low-Cost Spacecraft Mission for Validating Formation Flying Technologies, Robert J. Twiggs, Jonathan How, and Christopher Kitts

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EMERALD: The Next Squirt, Robert J. Twiggs

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EMERALD: Where We Are and Where We Are Going, Freddy Pranajaya and Bryan Palmintier

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Nanosatellite Program – A Challenge to AMSAT for Collaboration to Use the Amateur Bands, Robert J. Twiggs

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ORION: A Microsatellite Testbed for Formation Flying, Robert J. Twiggs and Jonathan How

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Stanford Space Systems Development Program, Robert J. Twiggs

Submissions from 1997

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ODIE Design Review, Robert J. Twiggs and Ron Hellings

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ODIE Design Review: Spacecraft Design Class, Robert J. Twiggs

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ODIE: Orbiting Dragfree International Experiment, Robert J. Twiggs

Submissions from 1989

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The NUSat I Project: Government, Industry and Academia Learning Together, Charles A. Bonsall

Submissions from 1987

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NUSAT I Project: Final Report, Charles A. Bonsall

Submissions from 1985

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NUSAT 1 - The First Ejectable Getaway Special, Charles A. Bonsall and R. Gilbert Moore

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The NUSAT I Project, Charles Allen Bonsall

Submissions from 1984

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Bonsall FAA Report, Charles A. Bonsall

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Functional Philosophy of the NUSAT System and the organization that developed it, Charles A. Bonsall

Submissions from 1969

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Saturn V Launch Views - Apollo 12 (AS-507) High Speed Camera, NASA

Submissions from 1964

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The Control and Use of Drag-Free Satellites, Benjamin Lange