Describe hardware you are designing for low Earth orbit. Ground Blue interprets its components and intended purpose, then identifies how the orbital environment could affect whether it works as intended.
Ground Blue reads a plain-English engineering description, resolves what it can support, keeps missing inputs visible, and turns the relevant low Earth orbit conditions into device-specific questions.
A small fluid dispenser designed to release a measured 5 mL amount of water once per day in a 500 km low Earth orbit for six months. It uses an aluminum reservoir, silicone tubing, a peristaltic pump, a solenoid valve, a flow sensor, a Raspberry Pi controller, a Li-ion battery, and an acrylic optical window. The payload is externally mounted, consumes 8 W for five minutes per day, and is not hermetically sealed.
Small fluid dispenser. The intended function appears physically feasible, but high-severity rule matches could interrupt operation or reduce useful mission output.
Ranked by qualitative engineering severity, not probability.
Microgravity → bubble position, priming, wetting, and two-phase separation cannot rely on gravity → the loop may ingest gas, lose prime, or deliver unpredictable heat or mass transfer.
Radiation → cumulative degradation and transient single-event effects → bit errors, latch-up, or an unexpected reset can cause data loss.
Vacuum → constituents can leave polymers and re-condense elsewhere → deposits on optical or thermal-control surfaces can change transmission or emissivity.
Use capillary management or positive displacement, then test in a representative reduced-gravity configuration.
This preview uses the terminology and result structure of the working Ground Blue MVP. It does not represent a proven physical simulation, certification, or validation.
Try Ground BlueThe software is an engineering screen for hardware being designed for low Earth orbit. Physical testing and validation remain separate stages.
I started thinking about Ground Blue during an astronomy unit in physics class. Astronomy was the topic I was most excited about, but unlike the other units, there was no hands-on engineering project. That made me wonder how a student could design something useful for space without already having access to a rocket, a space station, or a specialized laboratory.
Ground Blue began as an attempt to make space engineering accessible before someone has access to space.
Each note traces a technical source to an engineering consequence, while keeping established findings separate from Ground Blue’s own assumptions.
Open archives make completed investigations easier to study, but they do not remove the facilities, hardware, safety, and validation work required to test a new physical design.
Gravity does more than make liquids fall. It changes which forces dominate, how phases separate, and whether familiar Earth hardware still behaves as expected.
Earth testing is indispensable for building confidence, but every analogue reproduces some physical conditions while leaving others unmatched.