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Abstract
This document describes the design, construction, and testing of a vertical laminar flow
hood that will provide the needed clean environment for the University of Southern Indiana's
Undergraduate Nano Ionospheric Temperature Explorer (UNITE) CubeSat spacecraft team to
integrate the final flight components of their spacecraft. This laminar flow hood is a positively
pressured system that filters out 99.9995% of particulates greater than 0.3 pm from the ambient
environment in the optics lab on USI's campus. It consists of a pre-filter, a direct drive blower,
and a HEPA filter in order to provide the needed clean environment. The whole laminar flow hood
system was built from the ground up by the team of students that worked on this project. This
included welding together the entire frame, integrating all of the medium-density fiberboards
(MDF) into the system, cutting and then installing the stainless steel sheet metal inside the
workspace, installing the blower and filters, and wiring up the entire electrical system within the
flow hood. The clean workspace of the flow hood is 48" wide x 32" deep x 20" high. The 48" wide
X 32" deep x 78" high steel frame of the flow hood sits atop 4" high locking casters, which provide
easy mobility of the flow hood. The work surface of the flow hood is -30" from the ground, which
allows the user to sit comfortably while working at the flow hood. This vertical laminar flow hood
will provide USI's UNITE CubeSat team with the needed clean environment to integrate the final
flight components of their spacecraft.