The world has undergone economic, political and social changes in a more intense and accelerated way since the beginning of the globalization of communications, with the advent of artificial satellites. These changes directly reflected on the dynamism of education despite the class model still being quite prescriptive and dogmatic, not encouraging students to become protagonists in the learning process. Interest in Science and Technology, as well as space exploration, is often related to subcultures that adopt specific entertainment media rather than actual scientific research as a vocational incentive. With few young people pursuing careers in math and science, there is a shortage of qualified professionals working in aerospace S&T. However, there are strong indications that it is possible to reverse this situation through innovative educational initiatives, some of which are already being implemented around the world. Believing that betting on young people is creating alternatives for a different world, various entities, public or private, in different countries, turned to the search for motivational and low-cost projects. Ludic activities and the STEAM methodology (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) present an interesting tool to help reverse the current situation and bring these students closer to Exact and Earth Sciences courses, as well as space activities. This dissertation presents, at first, the analysis of interesting models used worldwide. The STEAM model, with an operational focus, addresses activities aimed at stimulating curiosity, based on a new learning approach, which value multidisciplinarity in the classroom, as well as use practices in workshops aimed at the focus of “hands-on” activity. ”. The MANAGEMENT models, as an essential tool after the 1988 Constitution, are presented as beacons for a more efficient administrative-financial management. In a second moment, we sought, in the available literature, successful vocational-educational initiatives that could add positively to improving the model chosen by the Brazilian initiative. Some historical spending data on S&T and formal-informal education was also shown, with the aim of comparing some priorities around the world and, mainly, in Brazil. As a result, actions were proposed to boost the Brazilian space vocational project, with short, medium and long-term activities that arouse students' interest in space science and related technologies, focused on astronomy and space exploration.

Orbital debris of approximately 10 cm in size can be measured with ground-based telescopes. This debris threatens the functioning of satellites and has an impact on the economy and the global security of space activities. In the GEO orbit, where most of the economically active satellites are located, exists approximately 842 cataloged debris. On the other side, orbiting LEO exists approximately 13485 debris cataloged. In this context, the  ESA studies show that hundreds of millions of small objects over 1 mm are currently in the two orbits GEO and LEO above the Earth and have not yet been cataloged. In this study, we created a computational procedure to detect space debris in GEO orbit based on images obtained from ground-based telescopes on the static mode. In this mode,  the field sky stars appear as lines in the CCD images and the garbage in the form of dots.  CCD images of 2992 x 2092 pixels (high resolution) and with 5 degrees of field of view (FOV) and with 7 seconds of exposure used in this work were obtained with the PanEOS telescope (Panoramic Electro-Optical System), 750 mm aperture, and installed at the Picos dos Dias observatory of the National Astrophysics Laboratory (LNA). For this research, we adapted the Photoutils package written in Python to build a mask and separate stars from candidates for space debris. Our methodology consisted of first smoothing the images using a Gaussian Kernel filter, then each element was categorized into two categories, and finally, the stars were erased resulting only in space debris candidates. We tested combinations of flow to establish the detection limit and used the different points spread function (PSF) to determine the limit of the elongation of objects. Our methodology works with a single image at a time in a fast and efficient way.  This allows us to detect objects with different PSF and therefore requires low hardware capability. Our results in this validation phase identified 100% of the artificial training debris. In the real images of the PanEOS telescope, we detected a few real debris consistent with the  expected size. In the next steps, we must estimate the size of the object and characterize its orbit.

This Master's Dissertation presents a preliminary design of an aerospace vehicle, using hypersonic airbreathing propulsion based on supersonic combustion (scramjet technology), for atmospheric flight at 20 km altitude, at hypersonic speed, corresponding to Mach number 5.79. Scramjet is an aeronautical engine without moving parts, where the aerospace vehicle integrated with scramjet technology (propulsion system) must be coupled to a rocket engine. The current means of access to space is limited by the chemical propulsion system (solid and / or liquid fuel) carried onboard rockets. The technology of supersonic combustion (scramjet) is being studied as an airbreathing propulsion system, to be used in the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere, to access space. A demonstrator is being designed to be coupled to the Sonda III rocket engine, to operate as a second stage, starting the operation at 20 km altitude. The theory of oblique shock waves, the theory of heat addition in one-dimensional flow (Rayleigh's theory) and the theory of expansion waves (by Prandtl-Meyer) coupled to the area ratio are applied in the design of the compression sections, of combustion and expansion, respectively, of the scramjet demonstrator with internal admission configuration. Steady state, one-dimensional flow and air under calorically perfect gas conditions will be considered. Thermodynamic properties (pressure, temperature, density, speed of sound) and flow velocity (Mach number) will be presented along the streamline from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the demonstrator, considering flow without and with boundary layer effects, for the conditions of no fuel burning (power-off) and fuel burning (power-on). Finally, the conceptual design and a brief approach to systems engineering in the development of a nanosatellite launch vehicle are presented.

Atmospheric conditions are mostly driven by the Sun, which follows a cycle of activity whose duration is about 11 years. Since this cycle has been found out, researchers has brought up the hypothesis that it may have some influence at the lower atmosphere, taking as proxies the Carbon-14 and Berilium-10 concentration in tree rings and ice cores. Beside that, some manuscripts have shown that, during the Maunder Minimum, where the Sun were at minimum of activity, some regions over the globe experienced a tiny "Ice Age". Initially, it was believed that this influence was related to the Total Solar Irradiation variation during a cycle. Although, further studies have shown that such variations were a rather small to produce these variations on the lower atmosphere. So, they have created the hypothesis that these influence was related to the solar cycle on the Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) flux through the heliosphere. GCR work as a ionizing agent, favoring the aerosol synthesis, which acts as Condensation Nuclei, which favors clouds formation. So, the objective of the research was to find a correlation between the solar cycles and meteorological conditions in the region where the cities of Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo are located. In this region, a huge flux of aircraft is observed.

Under the development of new technologies, the Aerospace Engineering is increasingly
improving its equipments in order to assist exploration that goes beyond our Heliopause.
As an example of this we can cite the launch of the space artfact Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
(TESS) that has been contributing photometric data to Space Sciences, like Astrophysics,
with the aim of study various physical phenomena. As an exemple, the magnetic activity
of stars can be fundamental in forming the atmosphere of exoplanets and impact your
habitability as well as, it can trigger life in the orbit of type K and M stars, which are
considered to be cold and they are the most numerous in the main sequence phase in
the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Based on these investigations and through statistical
analysis of the behavior of stellar flares in relation to their classi cations, rotational periods
and spectral subtype, this dissertation presents a study on the variation of energie
of stellar flares as a function of their rotational period in a sample of 679 TESS stars of
spectral type K and M. None of the stars in this sample showed a correlation between the
energy of their surface stellar eruptions as a function of their rotational period. Finally
we present four scenarios involving the stars and their stellar eruptions and theirs that
can explain our results.

Brazilian Space Launch Centers employ conventional aircraft to monitor large maritime areas destined to the impact point of rockets or parts of them, and this has a high cost. The remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) have shown to be a low cost solution for operations
of this type, however, the short range of their conventional remote controls is a limiting factor for their employment in large distances.
This paper proposes high-performance antennas for remotely piloted aircrafts (RPA) communication system, aiming control and image transmission from RPA operating at long distances. It was considered the case-study of the Brazilian Space Launch Centers,
which plan to employ RPA in order to assist the surveillance of the restricted area for rocket impact. The proposed antennas were designed in order to maximize gain and lobe aperture for the ground station operation; whereas, for RPA operation, the antennas were tailored in order to provide optimal gain and omnidirectional transmission, even during RPA maneuvers, as well as to minimize weight, size and aerodynamic drag in the aircraft. It is minutely described the design and evaluation of the proposed antennas, by means of simulations and experimental verification. The radio link using the proposed antennas was evaluated in laboratory and verified able to perform data transmission at emulated distance of 110 km (59.4 NM)(68.35 M).

The shock tube is an equipment used in laboratory studies on supersonic flows, providing data on the flight conditions in which the aerospace vehicles will find themselves. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) has stainless steel tubes – donated by the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEAv) – intended for the construction of the Institution's first shock tube. The objective of the research carried out was to make the construction of the equipment technically feasible. The correct sizing of the components is a fundamental part of the project, being essential to prevent accidents and control measurement errors during the tests, since it is a device subjected to high pressures. Structural modeling through software allows reducing material waste and operational risks during the construction of prototypes. Boundary conditions and applied loads must be rigorously selected, to provide a good level of confidence to the research results and, thus, constitute a guide for the execution of the academic project in a technical way. For this, the following were carried out and are presented here: calculations of the flow conditions; modeling and structural analysis of the high pressure (driver) and low pressure (driven) sections of the academic shock tube, considering the dimensions of the stainless steel tubes available at UFRN; in addition to determining the efforts to which the tubes will be submitted when the equipment becomes operational. Analytical (Lamé Equations) and numerical (Ansys Mechanical) results of circumferential, radial and von Mises stresses were compared by means of their percentage variations. Autodesk Inventor was also used for simulations and comparisons with Ansys Mechanical results. Both the driver and the driven were analyzed considering their ends closed by means of flanges and thus treated as pressure vessels. Ansys Mechanical and Autodesk Inventor software were used in the analysis, with discretization of the models by mesh generation and application of the Finite Element Method. A pressure of 70 atm (7.09 MPa) was applied to the inner surface of the high pressure section during calculations and computer simulation, while other pressures generated in the flow were calculated and applied to the low pressure section. All pressures were also multiplied by four to assess the impact of this change in stresses. Based on the results obtained for von Mises stresses, circumferential stresses, and radial stresses, it was found that, considering the properties of stainless steel AISI 304 and steel SAE 4140, the available tubes will withstand the workloads within the operating range to which they will be subjected without implying any risk of damage, in view of the first stage of the UFRN academic shock tube construction project.

In the present work, the thrust generation capacity of a scramjet integrated aerospace vehicle was evaluated from the combustion of hydrogen and atmospheric air at supersonic speed, for the flight of the scramjet vehicle at 20 km of altitude and speed of 1709.6 m/s, corresponding to Mach number of 5.79. A Theoretical-analytical method was used, considering the steady-state. The First Law of Thermodynamics, without and with reaction based on enthalpy of formation, was used to determine the properties. Correlations between the equivalence ratio with the mixture temperature, mixture speed, and exhausted gases temperature after combustion were obtained. The temperature and speed were also determined after the combustion gases expansion process. Mixing speed equal to 1152 m/s and exhaust gases temperature in the range of 2400 K to 2600 K was assumed, resulting in a fuel-air ratio in the range of 0.648 to 0.774 and mixing temperature of 875 K to 855 K. The temperature after the expansion varied from 865 K to 964 K, and the speed varied from 2425 m/s to 2532 m/s. A mean specific impulse equal to 4049.7 s was obtained, and positive non-installed thrust ranging from 760.8 N to 879.3 N.

In this present work, the implementation of the ordinary differential equations developed in the literature and which govern the movement of a rocket is presented, with the chosen vehicle being the VS-30 rocket. The code, which is developed in Matlab, is designed so that it is possible to compare the Earth's atmosphere as one composed of ideal gas, that is, an atmosphere in which the gases obey the Ideal Gas Law, and in another scenario , like being a type of Van der Waals. The final aim is to verify whether or not there is a large impact on the flight phenomenon as a whole, applying the Euler method to the solution of the equations already mentioned above.