nsf cubesat report

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) CUBESAT-BASED SCIENCE MISSIONS FOR GEOSPACE AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

October 2013

www.nsf.gov

annu

al re

port

(NSF) CUBESAT-BASED SCIENCE MISSIONS FOR GEOSPACE AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH [ 1

Conte

ntsLETTERS OF SUPPORT 3CONTACTS 5NSF PROGRAM OBJECTIVES 6GSFC WFF OBJECTIVES 82013 AND PRIOR PROJECTS 11 Radio Aurora Explorer (RAX) 12 Project Description 12 ScientificAccomplishments 14 Technology 14 Education 14 Publications 15 Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE) 17 Project Description 17 ScientificAccomplishments 17 Technology 18 Education 18 Publications 19 DataArchive 19 Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment (DICE) 20 Project Description 20 ScientificAccomplishments 20 Technology 21 Education 22 Publications 23 DataArchive 24 Firefly and FireStation 26 Project Description 26 ScientificAccomplishments 26 Technology 27 Education 28 StudentProfiles 30 Publications 31 Cubesat for Ions, Neutrals, Electrons and MAgnetic fields (CINEMA) 32 Project Description 32 ScientificAccomplishments 32 Technology 33 Education 33 Focused Investigations of Relativistic Electron Burst, Intensity, Range, and Dynamics (FIREBIRD) 34 ProjectDescription 34 ScientificAccomplishments 34 Education 342014 PROJECTS 35 Oxygen Photometry of the Atmospheric Limb (OPAL) 36 Project Description 36 PlannedScientificAccomplishments 36 PlannedTechnology 36 PlannedEducation 37

2 ] (NSF) CUBESAT-BASED SCIENCE MISSIONS FOR GEOSPACE AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

QB50/QBUS 38 Project Description 38 PlannedScientificAccomplishments 38 PlannedTechnology 39 PlannedEducation 40 Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE) 41 ProjectDescription 41 PlannedScientificAccomplishments 41 PlannedTechnology 41 PlannedEducation 42 Cubesat for Ions, Neutrals, Electrons and MAgnetic fields (CINEMA) 43 ProjectDescription 43 PlannedScientificAccomplishments 43 PlannedTechnology 43 Composition Variations in the Exosphere, Thermosphere, and Topside Ionosphere (EXOCUBE) 44 ProjectDescription 44 PlannedScientificAccomplishments 44 PlannedTechnology 46 PlannedEducation 47 Cubesat investigating Atmospheric Density Response to Extreme driving (CADRE) 49 ProjectDescription 49 PlannedScientificAccomplishments 49 PlannedTechnology 50 PlannedEducation 50 Publications 51 Firefly and FireStation 52 Project Description 52 PlannedScienceAccomplishments 52 PlannedTechnology 53 PlannedEducation 53 Focused Investigations of Relativistic Electron Burst, Intensity, Range, and Dynamics (FIREBIRD) 54 ProjectDescription 54 PlannedScientificAccomplishments 54 PlannedTechnology 54 PlannedPublications 54THE FUTURE 55


ThefollowingarelettersofsupportfromDr.RichardBehnke,NationalScienceFoundation,Head,GeospaceScienceSection,andMr.BillWrobel,NASAGoddardSpaceFlightCenter(GSFC),Director,WallopsFlightFacility(WFF).

LettersofSupport


Conta

cts

GSFC WFF Point of ContactWallopsFlightFacilityScottSchaireSmallSatelliteProjectsManagerPhone:757-824-1120Email:[email protected]

National Science Foundation Point of ContactGeosciences DirectorateThereseMorettoJorgensen,PhDProgramDirector,GeospaceSciencePhone:703-292-4729Email:[email protected]


NSFProgramObjectives TheNationalScienceFoundation(NSF)isanindependentfederalagencythatwascreatedby

Congressin1950“topromotetheprogressofscience;toadvancethenationalhealth,pros-perity,andwelfare;tosecurethenationaldefense…”Withanannualbudgetofabout$7billion,NSFfundsapproximately20%ofallfederallysupportedbasicresearchconductedbythenation’scollegesanduniversities.MostofthegrantsawardedbyNSFgotoindividualsorsmallgroupsofinvestigatorsforlimited-termspecificresearchprojectsthathavebeenjudgedthemostpromisingbyarigorousandobjectivemerit-reviewsystem.CurrentlyNSFissuesabout11,000newawardsperyear,withanaveragedurationof3years. Since2008,theDivisionofAtmosphericandGeospaceSciencesatNSFhasrunaprogramtosupportCubeSat-basedScienceMissions.Thisprogramimplementsanewandverydiffer-entapproachtoprovidingthescientificmeasurementsinandfromspacethatarecriticalforadvancingdiscoveryandunderstandinginmanyareasofscience.Itbuildsonrecentengi-neeringandsystemdevelopmentsofCubeSattechnologythathaveestablishedthetechnicalfeasibilityoftinyspacecraftmissionsthatcanbelaunchedassecondarypayloadsatverylowcostandrapidtimescalesastheyposevirtuallynorisktothelaunchvehicleoritsprimarypayload.ThismakesspacemeasurementsachievablewithinthescopeofthetraditionalNSFgrantsprogramsandgreatlyenhancestheparticipationofthelargeruniversitycommunityinspaceactivities.Inaddition,doingspaceinnewwayswithCubesatmissionsspursscienceinnovationandcreativityandalsomotivatesandinspiresengineeringinventionsandadvances.Equallyimportantly,CubeSatprojectsofferextraordinaryeducationalbenefits.Theyallowstudents,throughhands-onworkonreal,exciting,end-to-endproj-ects,todevelopthenecessaryskillsandexperienceneed-edtosucceedinScience,Technology,Engineering,andMathematics(STEM)careers.CubeSatprojectsarealsoaneffectivetooltobroadentheparticipationamongstunderrepresentedgroupsinSTEMresearchandeducation.Theprojectsstimulatewidespreadexcitementandinvolveauniquelydiversesetofskillsandinterest.Thereforetheyappealtoabroaderrangeofparticipantsthanmoretraditionalscienceandengineeringprojects.

Buildingonthisstrongmotivation,theNSFCubeSatprogrampursuesadualgoal:topro-moteoriginalandstimulatingSTEMeducationandworkforcedevelopmentaswellasfront-line,interdisciplinaryscientificresearchandtechnologyadvancesbyexploringuntraditional,creative,andlow-costwaystoprovidespacemeasurementsforscientificresearch.Specifi-cally,themainobjectiveofthecurrentprogramistoexecutesmallscientificsatellitemissionstoadvancespaceandatmosphericresearch.Anadditionalobjectiveistoprovideessentialopportunitiestotrainthenextgenerationofexperimentalspacescientistsandaerospaceen-gineers.Tothisend,theprogramsupportsthedevelopment,construction,launch,andopera-tionofsmallsatellitesystemsaswellasthedistributionandanalysisofthesciencedatafromthemissions.Tofacilitatelaunchofthesatellitesassecondarypayloads,thefocuscurrentlyisonCubeSat-basedsatellites.LaunchesarenotpartoftheprogrambutareprovidedbytheDODonacollaborativeorreimbursablebasisandbyNASAthroughtheirEducationallaunchprogram(ELaNa).

The Oxygen Photometry of the Atmospheric Limb (OPAL) mission consists of one 3U Cubesat.


Proposalsaresubmittedtotheprogramthroughanannualsolicitation;basedonscientificandtechnicalpeerreviewonetotwonewprojectsareselectedeachyearforimplementationoutofapoolofroughly25proposals.Theselectedprojectsparticularlyexcelineachofthefollowingaspects: Compelling science case Theuniquenessandimportanceoftheobservationsandmeasurementstheyobtainforad-dressingkeyoutstandingsciencequestions.

Exceptional Student trainingTheextensiveandoutstandingeducationandtrainingopportunitiestheyofferandthehighlevelofstudentinvolvementinallofthevariousaspectsofthemissions.

Technical ingenuity and feasibilityThesignificantdegreetowhichtheyadvanceandmakeuseofemergingtechnologieswhiledemonstratingsatisfactorytechnologicalreadinessorheritage Strong team building and management Thesoundnessoftheirplansforcollaboration,management,scheduling,andriskreductionthroughoutthedevelopment,operations,andsciencephasesofthemission,respectively.

Sofar,theprogramhascarriedout4competitionsresultinginatotalof10projects.Typically,thegrantsawardedareintheamountof$900,000andof3yearsduration.Overthefirst5yearsoftheprogram(2008-2012),thetotalfundingintheprogramwasjustbelow$10mil-lion,includingaone-timeinfusionof$2.8millionfromtheAmericanReinvestmentandRecoveryActin2009.

Theprogramemploysamanagementapproachthatisunusualforsatelliteprograms:Minimaldirectivesandoversightobligationsareimposedonthemanagementoftheprojectsduringtheirimplementation,withtheonlystrictrequirementsbeingtheonesthataredictatedbylaunchacceptance.ThisimpliesthatthePrincipalInvestigatorsoftheprojectsarefullyrespon-sibleforconductingthemissions,includingscheduling,reviews,testing,documentation,andriskmanagement,andformeetingtherequirementsforanyofthissetbythelaunchprovider.However,technicalandmanagementsupport,includingaccesstotestandground-stationfacil-ities,isprovidedtotheteams,asneeded,throughthecollaborationwithNASAWallopsFlightFacility(WFF).Although,bydesign,limitedinscopethissupportisacrucialelementoftheprogram.Itcontributesessentialengineeringandmissionmanagementexpertiseandcapabil-itiesthatarecriticalforensuringthatallofthemissionsaresuccessfullyqualifiedforlaunchandcompleted.Openinter-teamdiscussionsasameanstopromotetransferofknowledgeandprovidecontinuitybetweentheindividualprojectsconstituteanotheruntraditionalman-agementtoolthattheprogramapplies.TojointlydevelopandimplementbestpracticesforthesegroundbreakingsmallsatelliteprojectsisanimportantauxiliarygoalfortheprogramatNSFandforthecollaborationwithWFF.


GSFCWFFObjectives TheveryfirstCubeSatlaunchedintheUnitedStateswasa3UCubesatcalledGeneSat-1,

manifestedontheTacast-2launchoutofGSFCWallopsinDec.2006.WFFmanifestedCubeSatswiththeTacsat-3launchonaMinotaur-1launchvehiclewhichlaunchedinMayof2009. ItwasduringthisTacSat-3projectthatWFFlearnedquiteabitaboutobjectdebrisanalysis,safety,andtherequiredCubeSatandP-PODtesting.

MainlybecauseofWFFexperiencewiththelow-cost,smallpayload,responsive,soundingrocketandballoonprograms,andworkingwithprincipalinvestigators,WFFisideallysuitedtosupportCubeSatendeavors.

In2008,theNationalScienceFoundation(NSF)choseNASAGSFCWallopsFlightFacility(WFF)tocollaboratewiththeirCubeSatactivities.WFFcontinuestosupporttheirCubeSatprogram.SomeoftheservicesthatWFFhasbeenprovidingtotheNSFandtheirCubeSatteamsincludethefollowing:

•MentoringtoCubeSatdevelopersandsupportofreviewsfromtheWFFengineeringstaff

•UseoflabtestfacilitiessuchasGPSsimulation,antennatestingandvibrationtesting •Interfacingwiththelaunchvehicleprovider

•Groundstationsupportwitha60-footdish.ThisallowstheCubeSattotransmitatupto300timesthetypicaldatarate.

ThereisaRadaratWFFthatisbeingusedasasatellitetelemetrygroundstation.InthepasttheRadarhadbeenusedfortrackingandstudyofreentrywakesintheuppertroposphere.InsupportofCubeSats,theUHFRadarwithitshighgainantennaprovidesagovernment-licensedfrequencyallocationthatenableshighdatarates(3.0Mbit/Sec).Thispresentsahugeimprove-mentoverthe9.6Kbit/sdataratesother-wiseavailable. TheUHFCubeSatgroundstationanswersagrowingneedforhighdataratefromCubeSatsoveragovernmentlicensedfrequency.GovernmentfundedCubeSatsusingamateurradiofre-quenciesmayviolatetheintentoftheamateurradioserviceanditisaviolationofNationalTelecommunicationsInformationAdministration(NTIA)rulesforagovernmentfundedground-stationtouseamateurradiofrequenciestocommunicatewithCubeSats.

NASA GSFC Wallops UHF Groundstation.


ThesuccessandwidecommunitysupportfortheNSFCubeSatProgramcombinedwiththeincreasingnumberofNASAproposalsthatutilizeCubeSatsdemonstratesthematurationoftheCubeSatplatform.

TheprimaryvisionofGSFCWFFistobeanationalresourceenablingresponsivelow-costaerospacescienceandtechnologyresearch. GSFCWFFsupportsthefollowingNASAmissionthemes:

1) Enabling Scientific Research:SupporttheScienceMissionDirectoratebyprovidinglow-cost,highlycapablesuborbitalandorbitalcarriers,missionmanagement,andmissionservicestoenableEarthandspacescienceresearch.

A.Provideresearchcarriersandscienceplatformmissions,includingsoundingrockets,balloons,aircraft,andcarriersfororbitalmissions,andprovidebrokeringservicesforothercarrierssuchasUninhabitedAerialVehicles(UAV’s)andnon-NASAaircraft

B.DevelopnewtechnologiesandapplicationsforWFFcarrierssuchasuseofballoonsforplanetaryandEarthsciencemissions,andsoundingrocketsforplanetaryentry demonstrations

C.Develop,manage,andimplementsmallorbitalsciencemissions

D.ProvidespecializedmissionservicesthroughuseoftheWFFTestRange

E.ConductEarthsciencemeasurementssupportingglobalclimatechangeandcoastalresearch

F.LeadtheapplicationofballoontechnologytoplanetExplorationmissionsasselectedorassigned

2) Enabling Aerospace Technology and Facilitating the Commercial Development of Space:SupporttheAerospaceTechnologyandExplorationbyprovidingadvancedaero-spacetechnologydevelopment,testing,operationalsupport,andfacilitationofthecommerciallaunchindustrytoenablefrequent,safe,andlow-costaccesstospace.

A.ServeasaNASAtestsitefordemonstratingspacelaunchtechnologies

B.Supportdevelopmentadvancedrangetechnologiesthatimprovesafetyandreducelaunchcosts

3) Enabling Education, Outreach, and Innovative Partnerships:SupportotherNASAgoalsandobjectivesbyprovidingscienceandtechnologyeducationandoutreachprogramsinclud-inginnovativepartnershipswithacademia,otherGovernmentagencies,andindustry.

Wallops balloon prepares for launch with payload to search for antimatter and other cosmic particles.

Student team working on their sounding rocket experiment.


A.Providestudentflightprojectstoteachstudentstheprocessesassociatedwithconductingaerospaceandscientificresearch.

B.Seeknewopportunitiestocollaboratewithregionalcollegesanduniversities,especiallyHistoricallyBlackCollegesandUniversities(HBCU’s).

C.ContinueeffortswithWFFtenantsandregionalgovernmentorganizationstocreatenewbusinessopportunitiesforWFF.


2013

and

Prior

Proje

cts Thispastyearandprioryearstherewerethefollowingresearchprojects:

•RadioAuroraExplorer(RAX-2)–UniversityofMichigan,SRIInternational,see http://rax.engin.umich.edu/ and http://rax.sri.com

•DynamicIonosphereCubeSatExperiment(DICE)–UtahStateUniversity,Embry-RiddleAeronauticalUniversity,ClemsonUniversity,seehttp://www.sdl.usu.edu/programs/dice

•ColoradoStudentSpaceWeatherExperiment(CSSWE)-UniversityofColorado, see http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/csswe

•CubesatforIons,Neutrals,Electrons,MAgneticfields(CINEMA)–UniversityofCalifornia,Berkley,Kyung-HeeU.,ImperialCollege,AppliedPhysicsLab,Inter-AmericanUniversityofPuertoRico,seehttp://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/07/31/cinema-among-tiny-cubesats- to-be-launched-aug-2/

•Firefly/Firestation–GSFC,HawkInstituteforSpaceSciences,SienaCollege,FireflyismanifestedtolaunchinNov.2013,seehttp://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/ firefly.html. Firestation launched to the ISS on August 3, 2013, see http://www.nasa.gov/ content/goddard/firestation-to-international-space-station/ •Firebird–MontanaStateUniversity,UniversityofNewHampshire,AerospaceCorporation,manifestedtolaunchinDec.2013,seehttps://ssel.montana.edu/category/cubesat/

GSFC/Naval Research Labs Winds-Ion-NeutralComposition Suite (WINCS) Instrument slated to fly on CADRE.


RadioAuroraExplorer(RAX) Project Description

Ionosphericplasmaturbulenceoccursinresponsetointensesolarandmagnetosphericforcing.Theturbulenceconsistsofsub-metertodecameter-scaleelectrondensityirregularitiesthatim-pactcommunicationandnavigationsignals,suchasGPS.Asmallmisalignmentofionosphericirregularitiesfromthegeomagneticfieldresultsinwave-generatedparallelelectricfieldsthatdissipatesignificantlymoreenergypermV/mthantheperpendicularelectricfieldsthatareassociatedwithlarge-scaleionosphericconvection.Determiningthemagnetic-aspectsensitivityoftheturbulenceiscritical,notonlyforquantifyingelectronheatingandsubsequentchangesintheplasmachemistry,butalsoforquantifyingthetotalamountofelectromagneticenergyenteringintotheEarth’supperatmosphereduetosolarandmagnetosphericforcing.

RadioAuroraExplorer(RAX)isthefirstCubeSatfundedbytheNSFCubeSat-basedSpaceWeatherprogram.Itsmissionhasbeentorevealthemicro-physicsofionosphericplasmaturbulencebymeasuringAuroralscatterusingaground-to-spacebistaticRadargeome-try.IthasbeenjointlyconductedbySRIInternationalandUniversityofMichigan.Previously,Auroralscatterhasbeenmea-suredusingground-basedcoherentscat-terRadars.However,duetonearverticalmagneticfieldlinegeometryathigh-lat-itudes,ithasbeendifficulttoachievescatterperpendicularity.TheuniqueRa-darscatteringgeometryofaRAXexperiment,composedofatransmitteronthegroundandanorbitingreceiverinspace,enablesunprecedentedhigh-resolutionmeasurements.TwoRAXsatelliteswerelaunched(seepictureofRAX-1andRAX-2satellites).RAX-1waslaunchedinDecember2010,throughSTPfromKodiakAK,toapolarcircularorbit(650km).Thespace-craftwasterminatedduetothemalfunctioningsolarpanels.RAX-2satellitewaslaunchedinOctober2011fromVandenbergAirForceBasetoapolar-ellipticalorbit(400-820km).ThelaunchwasprovidedbyNASA’sEducationalLaunchofNanosatellites(ELaNa)program.

RAX-2completeditsnominal1-yearsciencemissionandproducedauniquedataset,someofwhichhasbeenanalyzedandpublishedinthescientificliterature.DetailsregardingtheRAXmissioncanbefoundontheteamwebsites:http://rax.engin.umich.eduandhttp://rax.sri.com.

Scientific Accomplishments

RAX-2completedmorethan30end-to-endexperimentswiththeAdvancedModularIncoher-entScatterRadar(AMISR)chainofradarsinAlaska,andResoluteBay,Canada.CoherentRadarechoingoccurredduringfourofthepasses:threewhenelectrondriftsexceededtheionacousticvelocitythresholdandoneduringHFheatingoftheionospherebytheHAARPheat-er.Thesmallnumberofdetectionsisexpectedbecauseoftheshortwindow(300s)ofeachexperiment.Nevertheless,thedetectionsspanalargerangeofelectrojetconditions(EXBdriftsfrom700m/sto1600m/s)andthisenabledobservationsofplasmaturbulenceforalargedynamicrangeofmagnetosphericforcing.

RAX-1 and RAX-2 Satellites.


RAX-2hasprovidedthehighestcombinedresolutionforaltitudeandmagneticaspectanglemeasurementsofAuroralelectrojetscatterthusfar.Theaspectanglegraphshowstheexper-imentalgeometryforthepass1017thatcoincidedwiththesolarstormofMarch8,2012.IntheRadarechoesfigure,themappingofRadardataonaltitudeandmagnetic-aspectangleshowsthattheturbulentbackscatterisobservedwhenthespacecraftwascrossingtheloci-of-perpendicularityshownintheaspectanglegraph.Infact,weseethatthescatteringplasmastructuresarealignedwiththemagneticfieldwithinafractionofadegreeandarelocalizedatthealtitudeofapproximately110km.Thisaltitudeisexactlywheremostoftheelectrojet-drivenelectrontemperatureenhancementsweremeasuredpreviously.

Basedonthisandothersetsofcompellingbackscatterevents,RAXdatashowedthatsub-me-ter-scaleirregularitiesintheAuroralEregionaremorestronglyalignedwiththegeomagneticfieldthanpreviouslythought,andtheturbulenceisconfinedtoanarrow(~5km)altituderangecenterednear110km.Thesefindingsareimportantforaccuratemathematicalmodel-ingofEregionplasmaheatingandchemistry.

RAX-2findingssuggestthattheparallelelectricfieldsofsub-meterscalewavespropagatingatlargeranglesfromthemainEXBflowdirection(secondarywaves)aretoosmalltocontrib-utetoEregionelectronheating.Itispossiblethatthedynamicsofthosesub-meterscalewavespropagatingintheEXBdirection(primarywaves)orthedynamicsoflongerwavelengthsexplainanomalouselectronheatingintheAuroralelectrojet.

Technology

TheprojecthelpedadvanceCubeSatandCubeSat-basedpayloadtechnologyformoreeffectiveinstrumentationofthespaceenvironment.Thefirst-timesuccessfuloperationofaUHFreceiverpayloadonaCubeSatisatechnologydemonstrationthatelevatestheTechnologyReadinessLevel(TRL)ofthisparticularpayloadto9.Mostimportantly,thedemonstrationopensthewayforproliferationofsimilarradiopayloadsasdistributedsensorsinspace,enablingmoreeffectivecharacterizationoftheionosphere.EnormousefforthasbeenspenttobuildaCubeSatbusthatwouldsupporttherigidpower,thermal,attitude,andelectromagnet-icinterferencerequirementsofthepayload.RAX-2bussuccessfullymettheexpectationsby

Experimental geometry showing the loci of perpendicularity for scattering at the spacecraft.

Radar echoes mapped to altitude aned magnetic aspect angle/time coordinates for the first (left) and second (2) crossings of the loci perpendicularity. The echoing is observed very close to the 00 contour.


fulfillingitsnominalmissionlifetime.RAX-2designwillserveabasisforfutureCubeSatdevel-opmentsandthelessonslearnedwillsurelybecarriedforwardtobuildmorerobustones.

Education TheRAXprojectdemonstratedamajoreducationalimpactinthefieldofaerospaceengi-neeringbyengagingalargenumberofstudentsduringthedevelopmentandoperationofthespacecraft(seeFigureofRAXteammembers).Dozensofundergraduateandgraduatestudentsstudiedunderthisprojectandwentontocareersinspacesciencesandaerospaceengineering.SomeofthestudentshavegraduatedandarecurrentlyworkingforNASAonlargerspacecraft.

Publications

Journals

1.Bahcivan,H.,J.W.Cutler,J.C.Springmann,R.Doe,andM.J.Nicolls(2013),Magneticaspectsensitivityofhigh-latitudeEregionirregularitiesmeasuredbytheRAX-2CubeSat, J. Geophys. Res.,inreview,2013.

2.J.C.Springmann,B.P.Kempke,J.W.Cutler,andH.Bahcivan(2013),TimekeepingontheRAXSpacecraft,Acta Astronautica.,inreview,2013.

3.JamesW.Cutler,HasanBahcivan,TheRadioAuroraExplorer–AMissionOverview,AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets,PublishedonlineJune25,2013,10.2514/1.A32436.

Some of the RAX team members in the Michigan Exploration Labortory (MXL) of Professor James Cutler.


4.SaraC.Spangelo,MatthewW.Bennett,DanielC.Meinzer,AndrewT.Klesh,JessicaA.Arlas,JamesW.Cutler,DesignandImplementationoftheGPSSubsystemfortheRadioAuroraExplorer,Acta Astronautica,Volume87,June-July2013,Pages127-138,ISSN0094-5765,10.1016/j.actaastro.2012.12.009.

5.Bahcivan,H.,J.W.Cutler,M.Bennett,B.Kempke,J.C.Springmann,J.Buonocore,M.Nicolls,andR.Doe(2012),FirstmeasurementsofradarcoherentscatterbytheRadioAuroraExplorerCubeSat,AGU Geophysical Research Letters,39,L14101,10.1029/2012GL052249.

6.J.C.Springmann,A.J.Sloboda,A.T.Klesh,M.W.Bennett,J.W.Cutler,TheattitudedeterminationsystemoftheRAXsatellite,Acta Astronautica,Volume75,June–July2012,Pages120-135,ISSN0094-5765,10.1016/j.actaastro.2012.02.001.

7.J.C.SpringmannandJ.W.Cutler,“Attitude-IndependentMagnetometerCalibrationwithTime-VaryingBias,”AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics,Volume35,Number4,July–August2012,pages1080-108810.2514/1.56726.

8.H.BahcivanandJ.W.Cutler,“RadioAuroraExplorer:MissionScienceandRadarSystem,” Radio Science,Volume47,Number2,RS2012,10.1029/2011RS004817.

9.H.Bahcivan,M.C.Kelley,andJ.W.Cutler(2009),RadarandrocketcomparisonofUHFradarscatteringfromauroralelectrojetirregularities:Implicationsforananosatelliteradar, J. Geophys. Res.,114,A06309,10.1029/2009JA014132.

ConferencePublications

1.J.C.Springmann,“On-OrbitCalibrationofPhotodiodesforAttitudeDetermination,”AIAA/ USU Small Satellite Conference,Logan,UT,August2013.

2.R.Burton,S.Rock,J.Springmann,J.Cutler,“OnlineAttitudeDeterminationofaPassivelyMagneticallyStabilizedSpacecraft”,Proceedingsofthe23rdAAS/AIAASpaceflightMechanicsMeeting,Kauai,Hawaii,February2013.

3.R.Burton,S.Rock,J.Springmann,J.Cutler,“DualAttitudeandParameterEstimationofPassivelyMagneticallyStabilizedSpacecraft”,Proceedingsofthe63rdInternationalAstronauticalCongress,Naples,Italy,October2012.

4.J.CSpringmann,B.P.Kempke,J.W.Cutler,H.Bahcivan,“InitialFlightResultsoftheRAX-2Satellite”,Proceedingsofthe26thSmallSatelliteConference,Logan,Utah,August2012.

5.J.CSpringmann,B.P.Kempke,J.W.Cutler,H.Bahcivan,“DevelopmentandInitialOperationsoftheRAX-2CubeSat”,The4SSymposium,Portoroz,Slovenia,June2012.

6.J.CSpringmann,J.W.Cutler,“Attitude-IndependentMagnetometerCalibrationwithTime-VaryingBias”,The4SSymposium,Portoroz,Slovenia,June2012.

7.J.ArlasandS.Spangelo,“GPSResultsfortheRadioAuroraExplorer2CubeSatMission,”AIAARegion3StudentConference,AnnArbor,MI,March2012.

8.J.Springmann,J.Cutler,H.Bahcivan,“InitialFlightResultsoftheRadioAuroraExplorer,”Proceedingsofthe62ndInternationalAstronauticalCongress,CapeTown,SouthAfrica,October2011.


9.J.Cutler,H.Bahcivan,J.Springmann,S.Spangelo,“InitialFlightAssessmentoftheRadioAuroraExplorer“,Proceedingsofthe25thSmallSatelliteConference,Logan,Utah,August2011.

10.J.Springmann,“Attitude-IndependentMagnetometerCalibrationwithTime-VaryingBias,“Proceedingsofthe25thSmallSatelliteConference,Logan,Utah,August2011.

11.J.Springmann,J.Cutler,“InitialAttitudeAnalysisoftheRAXSatellite“,ProceedingsoftheAIAA/AASAstrodynamicsSpecialistConference,Girdwood,Alaska,August2011.

12.GeeyongPark,SherylSeagravesandN.HarrisMcClamroch,“ADynamicModelofaPassiveMagneticAttitudeControlSystemfortheRAXNanosatellite”AIAAGuidance,Navigation,andControlConference,2-5August2010inToronto,Ontario,Canada.

13.S.Spangelo,A.Klesh,andJ.Cutler,“PositionandTimeSystemfortheRAXSmallSatelliteMission,”AIAA/AASAstrodynamicsSpecialistConferenceProceedings,Toronto,Ontario,Canada,August2010.

14.J.Springmann,J.Cutler,H.Bahcivan,“MagneticSensorCalibrationandResidualDipoleCharacterizationforApplicationtoNanosatellites,”AIAA/AASAstrodynamicsSpecialistConferenceProceedings,Toronto,Ontario,Canada,August2010.

15.JamesCutler,MatthewBennett,AndrewKlesh,HasanBahcivan,RickDoe,“TheRadioAuroraExplorer–ABistaticRadarMissiontoMeasureSpaceWeatherPhenomenon,”InProceedingsofSmallSatelliteConference,August2010.

16.Klesh,Andrew,S.Seagraves,M.Bennett,D.Boone,H.Bahcivan,J.Cutler,“DynamicallyDrivenHelmholtzCageforExperimentalMagneticAttitudeDetermination,”AAS/AIAAAstrodynamicsSpecialistConference,09-311,Pittsburgh,PA,2009.


ColoradoStudentSpaceWeatherExperiment

(CSSWE) Project Description

TheColoradoStudentSpaceWeatherExperiment(CSSWE)isa3UCubeSatdesigned,built,andoperatedbystudentsattheUniversityofColorado,Boulder.Itwasinsertedintoalowaltitude,highinclinationorbitonSept132012asasecondarypayloadonanAtlasVthroughtheNASAEducationalLaunchofNano-satellites(ELaNa)program.Thesciencepayload,theRelativisticElectronandPro-tonTelescopeintegratedlittleexperiment(REPTile),aminiaturizedversionoftheREPTinstrumentonboardtheNASA/VanAllenProbes,providesdifferentialmea-surementsofMeVelectronsandprotonstrappedintheradiationbeltsandfromsolarenergeticparticle(SEP)events.Hav-ingcompleteditsnominal90-daysciencemission,CSSWEcontinuestooperateandreturnvaluabledatatoday,almostayearlater.DetailsregardingtheCSSWEmissioncanbefoundontheteamwebsite:http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/csswe/.


TheREPTileinstrumentonboardCSSWEhasbeenmakingvaluablemeasurementsofthenear-EarthradiationenvironmentsincethecommissioningperiodwascompletedinearlyOctober2012.TheEnergeticElectronsandProtonsfigureillustratesthemeasurementsrecordedfromthefirst20daysofscienceoperations.Thereareanumberofscientificpapersindevelop-mentusingCSSWEdatatostudythecomplicateddynamicsoftheradiationbelts,includingenergyandpitchangledependenciesofelectronaccelerationandloss.Afulllistofpublicationstodatecanbefoundattheendofthisreport.TheseresultshavealsobeenpresentedatnumerousscientificconferencesincludingtheGeospaceEnvironmentModeling(GEM)workshop2013,MeetingoftheAmericas2013,EuropeanGeophysicalUnion2013,andFallAmeri-canGeophysicalUnion2012.Additionally,papersstudyingREPTiledata,incombinationwith

The CSSWE CubeSat delivered in January 2012 next to its Poly-Picoset OrbitalDeployer (P-POD).

Energetic electron and proton fluxes color-coded by logarithm and organized by spacecraft position in geographic latitude and longitude. MeV protons and electrons from the inner radiation belt are visible as CSSWE files through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) while electrons from the outer radiation belt are . . .


measurementsfromtheNASA/VanAllenProbesand2013BARRELballooncampaignareinpreparationandsubmittedtotheJournalofGeophysicalResearchandGeophysicalResearchLetters.CSSWEisaprimeexampleofhowsmallinexpensiveCubeSatscanbeusedtocom-plementlargermissionsandgreatlyenhancetheirscientificreturn.

Technology

TherehavealsobeenanumberoftechnologicalachievementsandlessonslearnedfromCSS-WE.ThesewerepresentedattheCubeSatDevelopers’Workshop/SmallSatelliteConferencethispastAugust2013,willbepublishedintheJournalofSmallSatellites,andwerehighlight-edinarecentnewsarticle(http://www.newspacejournal.com/2013/08/11/can-cubesats-do-quality-science-for-one-group-yes/).ContactwithCSSWEwasestablishedonitsfirstpassoverBoulderafterlaunch,andamateurradiooperatorsacrosstheworldhavehelpedtrackanddecodebeacons.On-orbitperformancehasbeeninlinewithexpectationsfrompredictionsandtesting,withinteriortemperatureswithintherangesofthethermalvacuumtestingper-formedbeforedelivery,andthepassivemagneticattitudecontrolsystem(PMACS)convergingtothelocalmagneticfieldwithin~oneweek.Anumberoflessonslearnedhavebeendocu-mentedandpassedontofutureCubeSatmissionsbothattheUniversityofColoradoaswellasotherinstitutions.Theseincludekeepingthedesignandoverallsystemassimpleaspossibletominimizeriskwhilestillmeetingrequirements.Additionally,integratedsystemtestingwascrucialtocharacterizingthesystemperformanceandpreparingforon-orbitresults.

Education

TheCSSWECubeSatwasdesigned,built,tested,delivered,andoperatedbyateamofstu-dentsunderadvisingfromprofessionalsattheUniversityofColoradoandtheLabo-ratoryforAtmosphericandSpacePhysics(LASP)aswellasothersinthecommunity.Over60students,bothgraduateandundergraduate,fromdisciplinesrangingfromelectrical,mechanicalandaerospaceengineeringtoastrophysicsandcomputerscience,workedonCSSWEovertheproj-ectlifetime.TheresultsofthemissionwillbeincorporatedintothedissertationsofthreePhDstudents,twofocusingontheen-ergeticelectronmeasurementsfromREPTileandoneonthepassivemagneticattitudecontrol(PMACS)system.ThesestudentshavepresentedCSSWEworkintheFrankJ.ReddAnnualStudentScholarshipCompetitionheldattheSmallSatelliteConferenceandplacedinthetopthreeforthreedifferentpapers.TheCSSWEteampicturefromSpring2010showstheteamholdinganengineeringmodeloftheREPTileinstrument(frontcenter)wellastheCubeSatoutershell(backrow).Theprojecthasallowedstudentstherareexperiencetobeinvolvedinallstagesofasatellitemissionlifetime,frompreliminarydesignandtestingthroughtooperationsanddataanalysisphases.

CSSWE team in Spring 2010.


Publications

Gerhardt,D.,S.Palo,Q.Schiller,L.Blum,X.Li,andR.Kohnert(submitted),TheColoradoStudentSpaceWeatherExperiment(CSSWE)On-OrbitPerformance,Journal of Small Satellites.

Li,X.,Q.Schiller,L.Blum,S.Califf,H.Zhao,W.Tu,D.Turner,D.Gerhardt,S.Palo,R.Selesnick,S.Kanekal,D.N.Baker,J.Fennell,J.B.Blake,M.Looper,G.D.Reeves,andH.Spence(submit-ted),FirstResultsfromCSSWECubeSat:CharacteristicsofRelativisticElectronsintheNear-EarthEnvironmentDuringtheOctober2012MagneticStorms,Journal of Geophysical Research.

Li,X.,S.Palo,R.Kohnert,L.Blum,D.Gerhardt,Q.Schiller,andS.Callif(2013),SmallMissionAccomplishedbyStudents-BigImpactonSpaceWeatherResearch,Space Weather Journal, 11,doi:10.1002/swe.20025,2013.

Li,X.,S.Palo,R.Kohnert,D.Gerhardt,L.Blum,Q.Schiller,D.Turner,W.Tu,N.Sheiko,andC.S.Cooper(2012),ColoradoStudentSpaceWeatherExperiment:DifferentialfluxmeasurementsofenergeticparticlesinahighlyinclinedlowEarthorbit,inDynamicsoftheEarth’sRadiationBeltsandInnerMagnetosphere,Geophys. Monogr. Ser.,vol.199,editedbyD.Summersetal.,385–404,AGU,Washington,D.C.,doi:10.1029/2012GM001313.

Li,X.,S.Palo,andR.Kohnert(2011),SmallSpaceWeatherResearchMissionDesignedFullybyStudents,Space Weather Journal9,S04006,doi:10.1029/2011SW000668.

LaurenBlum,QuintinSchiller,withadvisorXinlinLi(2012),CharacterizationandTestingofanEnergeticParticleTelescopeforaCubeSatPlatform,26thAnnualAIAA/USUConferenceonSmallSatellites.

ScottPalo,X.Li,D.Gerhardt,D.Turner,R.Kohnert,V.HoxieandS.Batiste(2010),Conduct-ingSciencewithaCubeSat:TheColoradoStudentSpaceWeatherExperiment,24thAnnualAIAA/USUConferenceonSmallSatellites.

QuintinSchiller,AbhishekMahendrakumar,withadvisorXinlinLi(2010),REPTile:AMiniatur-izedDetectorforaCubeSatMissiontoMeasureRelativisticParticlesinNear-EarthSpace,24thAnnualAIAA/USUConferenceonSmallSatellites.

DavidT.GerhardtwithadvisorScottPalo(2010),PassiveMagneticAttitudeControlforCubeSatSpacecraft,24thAnnualAIAA/USUConferenceonSmallSatellites.

Data Archive

Level1sciencedata(electronandprotoncountrates)fromthefirstsixmonthsofthemissionhavebeenmadepubliclyavailableandcanbedownloadedatthefollowingsite:http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/csswe/data/download/.

TheteamisconsideringputtingthedataintheCEDARdatabaseortheVirtualSolarTerrestrialObservatoryasalongtermarchiveaswell.


DynamicIonosphereC

ubeSatExperiment

(DIC

E) Project Description

FundedbytheNSFCubeSatandNASAELaNaprograms,theDynamicIonosphereCubeSatExperiment(DICE)missionconsistsoftwoidentical1.5UCubeSatsdeployedsimultaneouslyfromasingleP-POD(NASA’sPolyPicosatelliteOrbitalDeployer)intothesameorbit. ThesuccessoftheDICEmissionhasrequiredaverylargeteamofpeople.TheDICEPrinci-palInvestigatorisGeoffCrowley,fromASTRALLC.CharlesSwenson,SpaceDynamicsLab/UtahStateUniversity(USU/SDL),istheDeputyPrincipleInvestigator.ChadFish,USU/SDLandVirginiaTech,istheProgramManagerandascienceCo-Investigator.ScienceteamCo-Inves-tigatorsincludeMarcinPilinskiandIrfanAzeemfromASTRAandArohBarjatyafromEmbryRiddleAeronauticalUniversity.TheprojectleadengineerisTimNeilsen,USU/SDL.ASTRAisleadingthemissionscienceanalysis,withsupportfromUSU/SDLandEmbryRiddle.TheDICEengineeringcomponentwasimplementedatUSU/SDL,withsupportfromASTRAandEmb-ryRiddle.MajorengineeringindustrypartnersincludeL-3Communications,TiNiAerospace,ClydeSpace,ATKAerospace,andPumpkinInc.GPSsimulatortestingoccurredattheNASAGoddardSpaceFlightCenter.MissionoperationsareconductedbyUSU/SDL,incollaborationwithNASAWallopsFlightFacilityandSRIInternational.

Bothsatellitesareexpectedtoremainonorbitforabout15yearsandthegoalwastogetatleastsixmonthsofscientificdatafromthem.EachsatellitecarriestwoLangmuirprobestomeasurein-situionosphericplasmadensities,ascienceandattitudemagnetometers,andelectricfieldprobestomeasureDCandACelectricfields.TheLangmuirProbesarefullyde-ployed,anddatahasbeencollectedfromthemaswellasfromthesciencemagnetometer.InadditiontobeingascientificpathfinderintermsofmeasuringelectricfieldsfromadistributedsetofspacecraftinLEO,theDICECubeSatshaveachievedsciencedatadownlinksunprece-dentedinpreviousCubeSatmissions.DetailsregardingtheDICEmissioncanbefoundontheteamwebsite:http://astraspace.net/research-development/dicecubesat-mission/.


ThefollowingisasummaryofmajoraccomplishmentsresultingfromtheDICECubeSatmission:

•Firstin-situSEDobservationsfromasatelliteflyingintheionosphere•FirstdemonstrationofFieldAlignedCurrent(FAC)observationsintheionosphereusingabody-mountedmagnetometeronaCubeSat•Developmentofahigh-speedcommunicationslinkforCubeSatswithunprecedenteddata-ratesforthisclassofspacecraft•FirstCubeSatconstellationfundedspecificallyforscientificpurposes•Nearlytwoyearsofsuccessfuloperationsatthetimeofwriting

TheprimaryscientificaccomplishmentsoftheDICEmissiontodatehavefocusedonthechar-acterizationofStormEnhancedDensities(SEDs)intheionosphere,andthedetectionofFieldAlignedCurrents(FACs)athighlatitudes.TheDICEteamiscurrentlysubmittingseveralre-searchpapersrelatedtothiswork.TheDICEteamalsoworkedwithMillstoneHillandothers

Left: The twin DICE spacecraft, Farkle and Yahtzee. Right: DICE CubeSat showing one of the Langmuir Probes in a deployed position.


toorchestrateseveralIncoherentScatterRadar(ISR)conjunctioncampaignsresult-inginmulti-instrumentobservationsofthetop-sideandbottom-sideionosphere.Datafromthejointionosphericconfigurationmeasurementsiscurrentlybeinganalyzed.

Field Aligned Currents:TheDICEsatellitehasmadethefirstobservationsofmag-neticresidualsattributedtoFAC’susingaCubeSatbody-mountedmagnetometer.ThepresenceofstrongFAC’sinthevicinityofaDICEnorth-polarpasswasconfirmedbybothAMIEandAMPEREandcorre-spondstothemeasured400nTpertur-bationonMay22nd2013(seeAMPEREdBmagnitudeFigure).Whilesignificant,suchFAC’sresultinmagneticperturba-tionswhicharestillonly1%oftheEarth’smagneticfieldmagnitude,makingthemdifficulttodetect.TheDICEbody-mountedmagnetometerisabletodetectsignificantFACevents(>100nT)andthusserveascost-effectivespace-weathermonitors.

Ionospheric Storm Enhanced Densities: A geomagneticactivityonMarch16-17,2013resultedinthegenerationofSEDfeaturesinthenorthernandsouthernhemispheres.ThesouthernhemisphereSEDevolutionwasobservedbytheNSFDICECubeSats.TheDICEplasmaob-servationsfigurecomparesDICEplasmadensitywithIDA4DassimilationofthesouthpolarionosphereandAMIEconvectionpatterns(contours).TheAMIEconvectionpatternssuccessfullylocatedtheduskconvectioncellbyassimilatingdatafromDMSPion-driftmeters,SuperDARNradarsandgroundbasedmagnetometers.TheSEDisshowntomovetowardstheconvection“throat”regionnear14-15LTandisthenconvectedacrossthepoleaspolarcappatches.Thisresultsinahorseshoeshapeplasmaformationinthesouthernpolarcapwhichisobservedasadouble-peakedplasma-densityenhancementbytheDICE-Fsatellite(righthandsideofDICEplasmaobservationsFigure).TheDICEobservationsonMarch17th,2013representthefirstCubeSatobservationsofSED’sandcompleteanimportantscientificobjectiveoftheDICEmission.ThelocaltimeandaltitudecoverageaffordedbyDICErepresentauniqueandcom-plementaryviewrelativetothetopsideobservationsbyDMSPintheeveningsectorathigherlatitudes.Furthermore,thein-situDICEsatellitedataprovidesauniquevalidationofIDA4Dplasmadensitiesinthesouth-polarregion,whichisnormallyconsidereddata-sparse.IDA4DreproducedmanyofthefeaturesassociatedwiththeSEDandobservedbyDICE.

Technology

OneofthemajorchallengesforCubeSatmissionshasbeendownloadingsufficientamountsofengineeringandsciencedatafromthesatellitetotheground.AsaresultoftechnologydevelopedundertheDICEprogram,thetotalon-boardformatteddataacquisitionrateof

Ampere dB magnitude (top) with DICE dB measurements (bottom). The locations of the satellites are indicated with red triangles.


eachDICEsensor-satis>6.8Kbits/swhenin35Hzsciencemode(11.8Kbits/sin70Hzmode).These downlink rates are much greater (by a factor of 100-200) than those used on previous CubeSat missions.Thetotalamountofhousekeeping,attitudedetermination,andsciencedatademodulatedfrombothsatellitessincelaunchhasbeenapproximately9GBduringthecourseoftheprimarymission.TostoreandforwardtransmitthisdatatothegroundfromtheDICEconstella-tiononadailycadencerequiresanon-boardstorageof~1Gbit/dayandadownlinkrategreaterthan1.5MBits/second(assumesapproximately7-10minutesofoverpassdownlinktimepersensor-satperday).Theon-boardstoragerequirementiswellwithintypicalCubeSattechnologyspecifications.Therefore,incollaborationwithL-3Commu-nications,theDICEteamdevelopedtheCadetUCubeSatradiotoenablehighdownlinkdataratesandtooperateingovernmentassignedandregulatedUHFbandsforbothuplinkanddownlinkcommunications.TheuseofUHFbandsavoidscongestedS-bandoperations,andprovidesbettersignaltonoiselevelsoverthesamecommunicationpath.EachDICEsensor-satcontainsaCadetUradio.CadetUisa6.9x6.9x1.3cmhalf-duplexmodemweighingonly0.07kg,andcapableof9600kbpsuplink(450MHz)and20MBits/sofFECencodeddown-link(460-470MHz).TheDICECadetUradiosdownlinkat3MBits/sasthatismorethanamplebandwidthforthemissiontelemetryneeds.Continuousreceiveoperationsconsume~200mWofpowerontheDICECubesats,whiletransmissionconsumes~9Wofpowertoproduceupto2WofRFoutputpower.

Education

TheDICEprojectinvolvedmajorcontributionsfromitstwograduateandsixundergraduateengineeringstudents.Approximately68%ofDICEfundingforlaborhourssupportedstudentcontributors.Studentswereintegraltotheassembly,integrationandtest(AI&T)process.UponlaunchanddeploymentoftheCubeSats,studentswerealsoinvolvedinperformingday-to-dayoperations,andanalyzingthedatareturnedfromtheDICEinstruments.Studentswerealsoinvolvedintestingdata-recoveryalgorithmsandrecoveringadditionaltelemetryfromtherawtransmittedI/Qdata.ThespecificdutiesofthestudentsincludedDeputyProgramManager,SystemsEngineer,StructuralandThermalAnalysis,MechanicalDesign,ElectricalandComputerAnalysisandDesign,SoftwareDesign,MissionOps,DevelopmentofConceptsofOperations(CONOPS),CommunicationAnalysisandDesign,InstrumentationDesign,AssemblyandTest,andCalibration.

DICE plasma density observations compared with IDA4D assimilation of the south polar ionosphere and AMIE convection patterns (contours). Note that the enhanced densities observed by DICE (red arrows in the bottom plot) correspond to passes through a tongue.


SeveralMaster’sTheseswereconductedduringthecourseoftheDICEprojectandonePhDdissertationiscurrentlyinprogress.ThesedocumentsincludesubjectssuchasElectricFieldBoomDeploymentfromaCubeSatandCubeSatSystemsEngi-neering.TheDICEmissiondesignwasalsothefocusofanumberofcoreclass-esatUtahStateUniversity,includingSpaceEnvironmentsandSatelliteSystemsEngineeringcourses.ThisapproachofintegrationoftheCubeSatmissionsintocoreclassesledtoanothermissionstudythatwasthetechnicalimpetusfortherecentlyawardedNSFOpticalProfilingoftheAtmosphericLimb(OPAL)CubeSatmission. TheDICEengineeringactivitywasimplementedatSpaceDynamicsLab(SDL),enablingdirectinteractionofthestudentcorewithfulltimeprogrammanagementandengineeringprofession-als.ThisinteractionprovidedrealworldaerospaceexperienceandguidancefortheDICEstu-dentteam.ThreeDICEteamstudentshavesinceprogressedtofulltimepositionsatSDLandcontinuetocontributeinkeydesignareasonanumberofSDLassociatedCubeSatprograms,includingtheNSFOPALandLowerAtmosphere/IonosphereCouplingExperiment(LAICE)mis-sionsaswellastheNASAHyperAngularRainbowPolarimeter(HARP)mission. TheDICEstudentcoreengagedindustrypartnersandmanageddevelopmentofkeytechnol-ogyonDICE,includingtheCADETUhighspeedcommunicationsradiofromL-3Communica-tions,theiCASTgroundstationandmissionoperationscontrolcenterwithL-3Communications,andaminiaturizedFrangiboltactuatorfromTiNiAerospace.SubsequentlyanumberofDICEstudentswereinvitedasinternsatL-3Communications,withoneacquiringpermanentemploy-mentwithL-3. Additionally,thestudentsfromDICEarenowactivelysupportingthedevelopmentanden-hancementofL-3CommunicationshighspeedradiosforfutureCubeSatmissions.Thiseffort,whichisledbyDrs.JakeGuntherandCharlesSwensonandrunbystudents,isexecutedoutoftheSDLCubeSatmissionoperationsandhighspeedcommunicationscenterwhichwasdevel-opedonDICE.

Publications

Barjatya,A.,M.Pilinski,C.Swenson,C.Fish,G.Crowley,TheLangmuirProbeInstrumentontheDICECubeSat,inpreparation,Journal of Geophysical Research,2013.

Crowley,G.,C.Fish,C.Swenson,R.Burt,T.Neilsen,A.Barjatya,G.Bust,M.LarsenDynamicIonosphereCubesatExperiment(DICE),SSC10-III-7,ProceedingsoftheSmallSatelliteConference,Logan,UT,August,2010. Crowley,G.,C.Fish,C.Swenson,R.Burt,E.Stromberg,T.Neilsen,S.Burr,A.Barjatya,G.Bust,andM.Larsen,DynamicIonosphereCubesatExperiment(DICE),SSC11-XII-6,ProceedingsoftheSmallSatelliteConference,Logan,UT,August,2011.

DICE student team with professional advisors in January 2010.


Crowley,G.,M.Pilinski,C.Swenson,C.Fish,A.Barjatya,I.Azeem,etal.,ModelingandObservationsOfStormEnhancedDensitiesintheIonosphereDuringTheMarch17th,2013GeomagneticStorm,inprepara-tion,SpaceWeatherJournal,2013.

Crowley,G.,M.Pilinski,C.Swenson,C.Fish,A.Barjatya,I.Azeem,etal.,IonosphericResponsetoGeomagneticActivityduringMarch2013,in preparation,JournalofGeophysicalResearch,2013.

C.S.Fish,C.M.Swenson,G.Crowley,A.Barjatya,T.Neilsen,J.Gunther,I.Azeem,M.Pilinski,R.Wilder,J.Cook,J.Nelsen,R.Burt5,M.Whiteley,B.Bingham,G.Hansen,S.Wassom,K.Davis,S.Jensen5,P.Patterson,Q.Young,J.Petersen,S.Schaire,C.R.Davis,M.Bokaie,R.Fullmer,R.Baktur,J.Sojka,M.Cousins,Design,Development,Implemen-tation,andOnorbitPerformanceoftheDynamicIonosphereCubeSatExperimentMission,manuscriptinsubmission,SpaceScienceReviews,2013.

Fish,C.,C.Swenson,T.Neilsen,B.Bingham,J.Gunther,E.Stromberg,S.Burr,R.Burt,M.White-ly,G.Crowley,I.Azeem,M.Pilinski,A.Barjatya,andJ.Petersen,DICEMissionDesign,Devel-opment,andImplementations:SuccessandChallenges,SSC12-XI-1,26thAnnualAIAA/USUConferenceonSmallSatellites,2012.

Jandak,M.,R.Fullmer,AnExtendedKalmanSmootherfortheDICEMissionAttitudeDetermi-nationPostProcessingwithDoubleElectricalFieldProbeInclusion,2011,AAS11-598.

Neilsenetal.,TheDICESatelliteCommunications(Specificsofimplementinghigh-speedcom-municationsontheDICECubeSats),manuscriptinpreparation,2013.

Pilinski,M.,G.Crowley,C.Swenson,C.Fish,A.Barjatya,I.Azeem,etal.,Field-AlignedCurrentObservationsusingtheDynamicIonosphereCubeSatExperiment(DICE)BodyMountedMag-netometer,inpreparation,JournalofGeophysicalResearch,2013.

Ryan,K.,R.Fullmer,S.Wassom,ExperimentalTestingoftheAccuracyofAttitudeDetermina-tionSolutionsforSpin-StabilizedSpacecraft,2011,AAS11-599.

Swensonetal.,DICECommunicationsSystemOverview,manuscriptinpreparation,2013.

Data Archive

TheDICEsciencedatawillbemadepubliclyavailableonlinebyASTRALLCandwillbehostedontheASTRAwebsite.ThefollowingisasummaryofDICEdataproductswhichwillbemadeavailableinnetcdfandASCIIformats.TheL1productsincludeplasmadensities,plasmatemperatures,andmagneticresidualsandwillbemadeavailablewitharesolutionofap-proximately1degreelatitude.TheL0dataproductswillbemadeavailableatacadenceof30Hz.DocumentationwillbeprovidedontheASTRAwebsitewhichdescribesthedatapro-cessing.

The Mission Operations Center (MOC) is run by students at USU/SDL.


•LangmuirProbeDataoDCLangmuirProbe•L0probedata•Dateandtime,Counts,latitude,longitude,altitude,spacecrafttemperature,IRIdensityandtemperature,IDA4Ddensityandtemperature•L1normalizedplasmadensities•Dateandtime,Juliandate,Density,latitude,longitude,altitude,IRIdensitiesandtemperatures,IDA4Ddensities

oSweepingLangmuirProbe•L0sweepdata•Dateandtime,Juliandate,Sweepvectorincounts,appliedvoltagevector,latitude,longitude,altitude,instrumenttemperature,IRIdensityandtemperatures,IDA4D densities•L1sweepdata•Dateandtime,body-to-inertialframequaternion,Juliandate,IonDensity,ElectronDensity,PlasmaTemperature,latitude,longitude, altitude,IRIdensitiesandtemperatures,IDA4Ddensities

•MagnetometerDataoBody-MountedMagnetometer•L0magnetometerdata•Dateandtime,magnetometervectorinbodyreferenceframe,latitude,longitude,altitude,IGRFvectoringeodeticreferenceframe•L1magnetometerdata•Dateandtime,magneticresidualvectoringeodeticreferenceframe,latitude,longitude,altitude,IGRFvectoringeodeticreferenceframe


FireflyandFirestation

Firefly, a milk-carton-sized satellite, will study gamma-ray bursts that accompany lightning. Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation.

Project Description

Lightningdischargesrepresentthereleaseofenormousamountsofenergyandareassociat-edwithfamiliarandpowerfulmanifestationsneartheEarth’ssurface:thunder,abrightflash,andpowerfulcurrentsthatcanshattertreesandturnsandtoglass.Lightninggivesriseto

x-rayandgamma-raybursts,andunlikethewell-knownflashesoflightandclapsofthunder,theseenergeticraysarechanneledupwardandcanbedetectedonlyfromspace.ACubeSatmission,calledFirefly,sponsoredbytheNationalScienceFoundation,willexploretherela-tionshipbetweenlightningandtheseburstsofradiationcalledTerrestrialGammaRayFlashes(TGFs).FireflydemonstratesthecapabilityofsmallmissionssuchasCubeSatstodoimportant,focusedscience,withabundantstudentinvolvement,andwithaminimalbudgetandavailableresources.TheFireflyFigureshowsacartoonoftheprocessesinvolvedinTGFgeneration. Scientific Accomplishments

TGFswerefirstdiscoveredbytheComptonGammaRayObservatoryinthemid-1990s.Sincetheirdiscovery,theRHESSI,Fermi,andAGILEsatelliteshaveconvincinglytiedtheseeventstolightningdischarges,demonstratedthatthegammarayemissionsextenduptomillionsofelec-tronvolts,andshownindirectevidenceforenergeticelectronsandpositronsthatcanescapetheEarth’satmosphereandbemagneticallytrappedintheVanAllenradiationbelts.TheseelectronsaregeneratedbysecondaryinteractionsoftheTGFgammaswiththeupperatmo-sphere.However,noneofthesepreviousmissionswerededicatedtothestudyofTGFsandenergeticelectronsgeneratedbythunderstorms.FireflyisthefirstdedicatedmissiontostudyTGFs,theirlinktolightning,andtheireffectinproducingenergeticelectronsthatmaybecomestablytrappedintheinnerradiationbelt.


TGFsareofinherentinterest,astheyresultfromthemostpowerfulnaturalparticleaccelera-tionprocessonEarth,inwhichthermalelectronsareenergizedtotensofmillionsofvoltsinlessthanonemillisecond.BystudyingTGFs,wecanlearnfundamentalphysicscriticalinunder-standingnotonlylight-ning,butalsosolarflares,cosmicshocks,blackholes,andevenduststormsonMars. Fireflyisasmallsatellite(3.6kg,10x10x34cm),thatwasdesigned,built,andtestedaspartofthisNSFgrant.TheFireflyteamiscollaborationbetweenSienaCollegeandNASA.Studentsatalllevels(grade-schooltocollege)areinvolvedinallaspectsoftheproject,fromdesignanddevelopmenttomissionoperationsanddataanalysis.

InadditiontoFirefly,arelatedmissioncalledFireStationhasbeeninstalledaspartoftheSTP-H4platformontheInternationalSpaceSta-tion(ISS).FireStationreliesheavilyonexistingflightexperiencefromtheNSF-fundedFireflyCubeSatmission,withsomemodificationstointerfaceandsensors.FireStationconsistsof:

1)Asensitiveminiaturizedradioreceiver,withonboardFFTcapability,VLFsearchcoilandVLF-MF(100Hzto30MHz)electricantenna.Theradioreceiverhassmartonboardprocessing,utilizinganewLEONinFPGAdesignindependentlydevelopedbyGSFCoverthelastyear.2)Anovelphoswichenergeticradiationdetector,basedonanultrafastinorganicscintillator(GYSO:Ce),capableofdeadtimesshorterthan1µsforhighcountrateapplications.ThisdetectorrepresentsthefirstflightofGYSO:Ce,whichissimilartoBGO,butprovidesamuchfasterresponsetime,andhasaveryhighradiationtolerance.Thephoswich designofourenergeticradiationdetectoralsopermitsdiscriminationbetweenenergeticphotons(X-andgamma-rays)andenergeticelectronsinthe100keVto5MeVenergyrange.

3)Amulti-channelphotometersystem,includingmulti-wavelengthfiltersandhighspeedreadouts,providingaccuratelocalizationoflightningflashes,aswellasaccuratetimingathighresolution,andmulti-wavelengthobservation.

Technology

ThegravitygradientboomprovidesattitudestabilizationforFireflyaswellasasensitiveVLFantenna.Earlydeploymenttestingin2011validateddesignbutresultedinsomeneedfor

Inside the body of the Firefly CubeSat is the Gamma-Ray Detector (GRD). On the nadir side of the satellite are four photometers to optically detect lightning. Each photometer is angled slightly to obtain a general direction vector. The CubeSat is also equipped with a Very-Low Frequency (VLF) detector. Previous studies have shown correlation between ground-based VLF-detectors and TGFs.


reworkofgearing,etc.ReworkandtestingoftheGGBwasaccomplishedin2013.Theinstru-mentcontrollerFieldProgrammableGateArray(FPGA)wasdevelopedtosupportFirestationin2012/2013andthenmodifiedfortheFireflyCubeSatin2013.Itconnectstheinstrumenttotheflightsoftwareandflightcomputer. Education

BothFireflyandFirestationhavehelpedtrainundergraduatesatSiena,obtaininghands-onexperiencedesigning,building,testing,andwilltrainstudentsonoperatingthespacecraft,aswellasanalyzingthedata. SpecificcourseandtutorialsatSienaCol-legerelatedtoFireStationinclude:•OrbitalDynamics•SatelliteDesignandEngineering•SpacecraftInstrumentation•STKCertification

StudentsatSienaCollegeworkedonand/orstarteddevelopmentofthefollowing:

1)ExperimentExpansionModules,FFT,Filterbank,advancedtriggeringmechanisms2)AWESOMEVLFReceiverDevelop-ment,Ground-basedVLFsupport3)GSE,MATLABInstrumentControlToolbox4)Instrumentmodeling,Opticalphotodiodecollimatoroptimization5)DataProcessingandAnalysis6)LEGOFireflyMissionDevelopment7)GeographicInformationSystem,Worldwidelightningnetwork8)STK,SatelliteToolkitOrbitDevelopment

Firestation International Space Station Experiment.

Firestation being placed on the ISS.


AGU Student Presentations

•AE33B-0306.FireflyandFireStation:MissionstoStudyTerrestrialGamma-rayFlashes,KevinA.Melsert;LindsayE.McTague;NguyenTruong;JackSneeringer;JoshuaDeJoy;JosephT.Kujawski;DouglasE.Rowland;AllanT.Weatherwax

•SA31A-1958.Anovelself-localizationprotocolforspacecraftclusters,ThaddeusSavery;GrazianoVernizzi;JosephT.Kujawski;RiccardoBevilacqua;AllanT.Weatherwax

Other Presentations

•Firefly:UnderstandingEarth’smostPowerfulParticleAccelerator,byA.T.Weatherwaxetal.,FallMeetingoftheAstronomicalSocietyofNewYork,October25,2009.

•TheFireflyCubeSatMission,DougRowlandetal.,DartmouthCollegePlasmaSeminarSeries,April14,2009.

•TheFireflyCubeSatMission,DougRowlandetal.,CubeSatDevelopers’Workshop,CalPoly,SanLuisObispo,April22-25,2009.

•TheFireflyCubeSatMission,A.T.Weatherwaxetal.,CEDARCubeSatWorkshop,2009.

•TheLinkBetweenLightningandTerrestrialGammaRayFlashes,BillWanamaker(highschoolstudent)etal.,MAStateScienceFairFinalsatMIT,May2009.

•Firefly:AnNSFCubeSatMissiontoUnderstandEarth’sMostPowerfulNaturalElectronAcceleratorbyAllanWeatherwax(SienaCollege)andtheFireflyTeam,UnionCollegePhysicsSeminarSeries,September17,2009.

•TheNSFFireflyCubesat:Progressandstatus,Rowland,D.E.,Weatherwax,A.T.,Klenzing,J.H.,Hill,J,AGUFallMeeting2009,abstract#SM42A-07

•FIREFLY:ACubeSatmissiontostudyterrestrialgamma-rayflashes,Authors:Klenzing,J.H.,Rowland,D.E.,Hill,J.,Weatherwax,A.T.,AmericanGeophysicalUnion,FallMeeting2009, abstract #SM33C-1577.

Students on Firefly and Firestation were involved in all aspects of spacecraft design and operation.


Student Profiles

JoshDejoyworkedonFireflyandFirestationaspartofahighschoolhonorsprogramforgiftedandtalentedstudents.JoshcompetedintheGreaterCapitalRegionScienceandEngineeringFairatRPIandwonseveralawards.HewasalsoinvitedtocompeteintheNationalAmericanMeteorologicalScienceFair.JoshgraduatedNewPaltzhighschoolfirstinhisclassinJune2013andiscurrentlyaphysicsmajoratGeneseoCollegeinNewYork.

JackSneeringerworkedonFireflyandFirestationaspartoftheShakerHighSchoolResearchprogram.HecompetedinnumerousNewYorksciencefairswherehewontheWal-terEppensteinAstronomy/PhysicsAwardandtheAmericanMeteorologicalSocietyAwardforhiseffortsonprelimi-naryFireflydataanalysis.HeiscurrentlyacomputerscienceandphysicsmajoratColgateUniversity.

JenniferWilliamsgraduatedwitha3.73GPAinphysicsatSienaCollegeandiscurrentlyworkingonherPh.D.inopticsatBostonUniversityandherO.D.attheNewEnglandCollegeofOptometry.RobertCarroll,graduatewitha3.82GPAasaphysicsmajorandisworkingonaPh.D.inengineeringattheCollegeofNanoscaleScienceandEngineering.RobertCarrollwasstudentleadonthelightningphoto-detectordesign.Aprimarytaskwastocalculatethefieldofviewofthephoto-detectorandtheoverlapfunction.Minimumandmaximumfieldofviewwerecalculatedbasedonthegeometryofthephotodetectorandcollimator.Asundergraduates,theywereco-authorsonthepaperentitled,TheNSFFireflyCubeSatmission:Ridesharemissiontostudyenergeticelec-tronsproducedbylightning,Aerospace,IEEEdoi:10.1109AERO.2011.5747231.

UndergraduatephysicsmajorJohnDeMatteoleadtheorbitalmechanicseffort.Johnwasenrolledintheindepen-dentstudycourseentitled“OrbitalMechanics”,underthesupervisionofProfessorAllanWeatherwax.InMay,2010,JohnbecamecertifiedontheSatelliteTookKit(STK)soft-warepackagefromAnalyticalGraphics,Inc.

LindsayMcTaguegraduatedSienaCollegeinMay2013withaB.Sinphysicsandminorsinmathematicsandcomputerscience.AtSiena,LindsayworkedonbothFireflyandFirestation

High School student Josh Dejoy displays the CubeSat frame in the Siena Space Sciences Lab.

Jennifer Williams (left) and Robert Carroll are shown testing an early prototype of Firefly’s photometer experiment.

Jack Sneeringer worked on Firefly and Firestation.


withsupportfromtheNSF.LindsayprimarilyworkedontheopticalandmechanicaldesignoftheFireflyandFirestationphotometerboards.ShelearnedSolidWorksandMatlabaspartofresearchstudiesandhelpedconstructtheinterfacebracketforthephotome-terinstrumentthatwasrecentlydeployedontheInternationalSpaceStation.Inaddition,aspartofherseniorindependentstudyprojectentitled,SpaceMissionDesignEngineering&Operations,shebecameSatelliteToolKit(STK)certifiedandworkedonorbitalanalysisscenar-iosforbothmissions.LindsayiscurrentlyenrolledatDukeUniversitywheresheispursuingaPh.D.degreeinelectricalengineering.

Publications

•Rowland,D.,A.T.Weatherwax,etal.(2011),TheNSFFireflyCubeSatmission:Ridesharemissiontostudyenergeticelectronsproducedbylightning,Aerospace,IEEEdoi:10.1109AERO.2011.5747231.

Lindsay speaking at the NSF CubeSat panel.

(Left) Lindsay building Firefly in the Space Sciences Lab at Siena College. (middle) The photo-optical board that Lindsay helped design and build. (right) Firefly ready for launch!

The Firestation photodiode and optical assembly developed for the International Space Station. Undergraduate student Lindsay McTague was the lead on the mechanical design of this instrument.


CubesatforIons,Neutrals,Electronsand

MAgneticfields(CIN

EMA) Project Description

TheCubesatforIons,Neu-trals,ElectronsandMAgneticfields,orCINEMA,isa3UspacecraftbuiltbystudentsattheSpaceSciencesLabo-ratory(SSL)attheUniversityofCaliforniaBerkeley(UCB).CINEMAcarriestwoexcit-ingnewscienceinstruments,oneofwhichwasdevelopedexplicitlyforthisproject.TheSupra-Thermal,Electrons,IonsandNeutrals(STEIN)detectorisa32-pixelsilicondetectorwitharemarkable2-4keVenergythresholdandpeakenergyrangeof200keV.STEINusesthesamethinwindowtechnologythatUCBpioneeredfortheSTEREO-STEinstrument,butcombinesitwithanewlydevelopedASIC,providedbyCEA-Sa-clay(TheFrenchAtomicEnergyAgency)toexpandfrom4channelsto32whilereducingthepowerandvolumetothepointwhereinclusioninaCubeSatbecamefeasible.CINEMAalsocarriesMAGIC,amagnetoresistivemagnetometerthatwasprovidedbyImperialCollege-Lon-don.Ithaspairedinboard-outboardsensors,thesecondplacedonadeployed1-meterstac-erboomdesignedatBerkeley.Thisinstrumentisalsoremarkablysensitive(~nT)withdevelop-mentdrivenbytheneedtobelowmassandlowpower.TheMAGICsensorheadis~1cm^3andweighs10g.TheCINEMAprojectwasextendedtofourspacecraftofroughlyequivalentdesignthroughcollaborationwithKyung-HeeUniversity(KHU)ofSeoul,Korea.KHUhasbuilttwoadditionalcopiesoftheCINEMAspacecraftandUCBhasaddedafourthcopywithadditionalfundingfromNSFandAirForceresearchLabs.Together,MAGICandSTEINaredesignedtoprovidehighsciencequalityobservationsoftheearth’sringcurrent,precipitatingchargedparticlesandthemagneticfieldinitsorbit. Scientific Accomplishments

CINEMAhasbeenoperatingsinceitslaunchinSeptember2012,butscienceoperationsareonlynowrampingup.Twotechnicalissueswiththespacecraftbushavenecessitatedsignif-icantinvestigativeeffortandworkarounds.Asaresult,afterayearonorbit,theinboardandoutboardMAGICsensorscannowsuccessfullybeoperated,andtheoperationsteamisworkingtoturnontheSTEINinstrumentshortly.ThecontinuingeffortsoftheCINEMAteamonthefirstspacecraftbusonorbithaveallowedkeydesignchangestobedetermined,prog-ressthatwillbeinvaluableastheupcominglaunchofCINEMA2and3approachesaswellasthefourthcopy.Thefirstissueiscommanduplinkreliabilityinthefewpercentrange.ThisappearstobeprimarilyinterferencebetweentheUHFreceiveronboardandotherspace-craftsystems.However,wehaveincreasedtheantennagainweuseonourgroundstationandmodifiedouroperationsmodesuchthatwehaverecentlybeengettingsignificantlyhighercommandthroughput.Thisprovidesapathtoresolvethesecondissue,involvingalockupoftheprimarydatastorageSDcard.Thisissueisharder,ascardreads/writesweretestedthoroughlyonthegroundbothbeforelaunchandontheengineeringmodelpostlaunch,withnosuccessinrecreatingtheissueinthelab.Workaroundsforsmallvolumesofdatahavebeendevelopedtoallowcommandedsciencedatacollectionandtheseshowinitialsuccess.Thesecondthroughfourth‘copies’ofCINEMAhaveimprovedsoftwarereliability,significantlybetteruplinkmarginandothersmallerrevisionstotheoriginal’sdesign.

The CINEMA spacecraft showing the MAGIC sensor and 1m stacer boom.


Technology

TheCINEMAinstrumentpayloadshaveattractedsignificantattention.Inadditiontothemulti-plefuturecopiesofCINEMAthatareinthepipeline(KHUlaunchesitspairofCubeSatslate2013),MAGIChasbeenadaptedforinclusioninotherCubeSatsandSTEINhasbeenadaptedintoaninstrumentthatisslatedtobelaunchedontheEuropeanSpaceAgency’sSolarOrbitermission.Detectorsthataremorehighlymodifiedhavebeenproposedforsciencear-easasfarrangingasun-derstandinglunarsurfacefeaturesandshockacceleratedplasmasatthesun.CINEMAadditionallybrokenewgroundfordataratesonaCubeSat,utilizingtheexistingS-bandinfrastructurefordownlinkavail-ableatBerkeley.CINEMA’sdevelopmentandoperationalhurdleshaveprovedinstructiveaswell,withnumerouslessonslearnedinthemanagementanddevelopmentofsuchacomplex,multi-institution,multi-spacecraftproject.SomeoftheselessonslearnedhavebeenpresentedattheCubesatDevelopers’Workshop,andallarebeingappliedtothefollowonCINEMACubeSats,potentialfutureCubeSatsatUCB,partnerinstitutions,andhopefully,throughouttheCubeSatcommunity.InparticulartheimportanceofhandlingstudentlaborandstudentturnoveronsuchalargeprojectwasrecognizedearlyanddocumentationrequirementswereimplementedthatmadeCINEMA’slateryearsrunfarmoresmoothlythanitsearlyones.Thecomplexityofthesystemalsodemandedmoresystemleveltestingthanwasscheduledorcosted,partlybecauseSTEINwassuchalargeinstrumentdevelopmenteffortandtooktimefromthoroughspacecraftsystemsleveltesting.Thatsaid,CINEMAisaremark-ableCubeSateffort.

Education

CINEMAinvolved24undergraduatestudentsatUCB,fourmaster’slevelstudentsandonePhDcandidate.Thesystemswereprimarilydesignedandimplementedbythestudentworkforce.Ourfouracademicpartnerinstitutionsemployedmorethanthe16studentswhovisitedBerkeleytohelpwithvariousaspectsofthedevelopmentandtakethoselessonsbacktotheirowninstitu-tions.Atleast10oftheUCBCINEMAstudentshavegoneontoearlypositionsinaerospaceengineering.ApictureoftheCINEMAteamsfromsuccessivesummersisincluded.

The CINEMA student teams from Summer 2010 and 2011.

The CINEMA student teams from Summer 2010 and 2011.


FocusedInvestigationsofRelativisticElectron

Burst,Intensity,Range,anDynamics(FIREBIRD) Project Description

Themissionatargeted,goal-directed,spaceweatherCubesatmissiontoresolvethespatialscalesizeandenergydependenceofelectronmicroburstsintheVanAllenradiationbelts.Rel-ativisticelectronmicroburstsappearasshortdurationsofintenseelectronprecipitationmea-suredbyparticledetectorsonlowaltitudespacecraft,seenwhentheirorbitscrossmagneticfieldlineswhichthreadtheouterradiationbelt.Previousspacecraftmis-sions(e.g.,SAMPEX)havequantifiedimportantaspectsofmicroburstproperties(e.g.,occurrenceprobabilities),however,somecrucialproperties(i.e.,spatialscale)remainelusiveowingtothespace-timeambiguityinher-enttosinglespacecraftmissions.Whilemicroburstsarethoughttobeasignificantlossmechanismforrelativisticelectrons,theyremainpoorlyunderstood,thusrenderingspaceweathermodelsofEarth’sradiationbeltsincom-plete.


TheFIREBIRD1CubeSatislaunchinginDecember,2013onNROL-39.Itwasdelivered,integratedintotheP-POD,integratedintotheNavalPostgraduateSchoolCubeSatLauncher(NPSCuL),attachedtotheCentaurLaunchVehicle(LV)upperstage,andstackedonthepadinSeptember,2013.TheFIREBIRD2CubeSatismanifest-edtolaunchonaDeltaIIfromVandenberginOctober,2014,andwillbedeliveredinJuly,2014.

Anengineeringdevelopmentunit(EDU)andtwoflightunitsweredeveloped,andtested.TestingoftheFIREBIRDinstrumentatAerospaceCorporationbracketedthefullwidthathalf-maximum(FWHM)oftheelectronbeam.InMarch,2013,theEDUpassedaproto-qualificationvibrationtestwithamasssimulator.InApril,2013,FIREBIRDwaspresentedataMissionRead-inessReview.INMay,2013,theFIREBIRDinstrumentwassuccessfullycalibratedatAerospaceCorporation. Education

FIREBIRDhasprovideduniqueopportunitiesforgraduatestudentsatMontanaStateUniversityandtheUniversityofNewHampshireforhands-oneducation.OnesuchstudentisAlexCrew.Crew,aPh.D.candidateintheSpaceScienceCenter,attheUniversityofNewHampshireIn-stitutefortheStudyofEarth,Oceans,andSpace(EOS),hasspentthreeworkingonFIREBIRD.CrewpresentedaposteronFIREBIRDataNSFworkshopinArlington,VA.HejoinedCubeSatprojectscientists,engineers,educators,andstudentsfromaroundthecountrytoexplorehowCubeSatprojectscanenablescientificdiscoveriesandengineeringinnovationandplayama-jorroleinhelpingsolvecriticalsocietalproblemsrelatedto,forexample,climatechangeandspaceweather.Seehttp://www.eos.unh.edu/Spheres_0812/firebird.shtml.

FIREBIRD CubeSat.

Beam Testing of FIREBIRD Instrument.


Alex Crew holds FIREBIRD’s full-size engineering unit, which contains twin particle detectors. The boxy struc-ture to Crew’s left is a copy of the miniscule FIREBIRD spacecraft. Photo by David Sims, UNH-EOS.

2014 PROJECTS

Thefollowingeightprojectsareplannedtocontinueorbeginin2014:

•CubesatforIons,Neutrals,Electrons,MAgneticfields(CINEMA)–UniversityofCalifornia,Berkley,Kyung-HeeU.,ImperialCollege,AppliedPhysicsLab,Inter-AmericanUniversityofPuertoRico,seehttp://newscenter.berkeley. edu/2012/07/31/cinema-among- tiny-cubesats-to-be-launched-aug-2/.

•Firefly/Firestation–GSFC,HawkInstituteforSpaceSciences,SienaCollege,FireflyismanifestedtolaunchinNov.2013,see http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/ features/firefly.html.FirestationlaunchedtotheISSonAugust3,2013,seehttp:// www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/ firestation-to-international-space-station/.

•Firebird–MontanaStateUniversity,UniversityofNewHampshire,AerospaceCorporation,manifestedtolaunchinDec.2013,seehttps://ssel.montana.edu/category/ cubesat/.

•CompositionVariationsintheExosphere,Thermosphere,andTopsideIonosphere(EXOCUBE)–ScientificSolutionsInc.,CalPoly,UniversityofWisconsin,GSFC,scheduledforlaunchinOctober2014,seehttp://www.sci-sol.com/Exocube-Oct2011.pdf.

•CubeSatinvestigatingAtmosphericDensityResponsetoExtremedriving(CADRE)–UniversityofMichigan,NavalResearchLabs,manifestedonanAtlasV,forlaunchinOct.,2014,seehttp://exploration.engin.umich.edu/blog/?page_id=961.

•OxygenPhotometryoftheAtmosphericLimb(OPAL)–UtahStateUniversity,UniversityofMaryland,EasternShore(UMES),HawkInstituteforSpaceSciences,DixieStateCollegeofUtah.

•QB50/QBUS–VonKarmanInstitute(VKI)ofBelgium,EuropeanUnion(EU),see https://www.qb50.eu/index.php/requirements-and-reviews/pdr-submission.

•LowerAtmosphere-IonosphereCouplingExperiment(LAICE)–VirginiaTech,UniversityofIllinois,Urbana,TheAerospaceCorporation,ColoradoResearchAssociates, see http://www.space.vt.edu/news/articles/RockSat-X_Payload.html.


OxygenPhotometryoftheAtmosphericLimb

(OPA

L) Project Description

TheOxygenPhotometryoftheAtmosphericLimb(OPAL)missionconsistsofone3UCubeSatthatisdesignedtounderstandthethermospherictemperaturesignalsofthedynamicsolar,geomagnetic,andinternalatmosphericforcing.Thismissioncanbeaddressedbyremotesensingofthealtitudetemperaturefromtheatmosphericlimbfromamid-tohigh-inclinationorbit(>50°)thusprovidingdaytimeobservationsofthemid-andlow-latitudes.OPAL’steamcombinesstudents,advisors,andprofessionalsfromUtahStateUniversity/SpaceDynamicsLaboratory,UniversityofMarylandEasternShore,HawkInstitutedforSpaceSciences,andDixieStateCollegetopromotethetrainingofthenextgenerationofengineersandscientists.

Planned Scientific Accomplishments

TheOPALtemperaturemeasurementsinthelowerthermosphere,andthescientificstudiesthatcanbeconductedwiththem,arehighlyrelevanttogoalsoftheNa-tionalSpaceWeatherProgram(NSWP),andtotheNSF-sponsoredcommunity-wideCoupling,EnergeticsandDynamicsofAtmosphericRegionsprogram.OneofthemaingoalsoftheNSWPis“tomitigatetheadverseeffectsofspaceweatherbyprovidingtimely,accurate,andreliablespaceenvironmentspecifications.”Thelowerthermosphereisanimportantelementinthisprogrambecauseofitsinterfacebetweenthelowerandupperatmospherewithvariableso-larforcingfromaboveanddynamicalwavecouplingfrombelow.SomeofthetasksthatarerequiredtoaccomplishtheprimarygoaloftheNSWPincludethedevelopmentofasuiteofsensorstoprovidethenecessaryobservations,thedevelopmentofdataanalysisalgorithms,andscientificstudiesofspaceweatherphenomena.OPALaddressestheseelements.

TheOPALinstrumentisahighresolutionimagingspectrometerthatsimultaneouslycollectsspatially-resolvedA-bandspectrainmultipleazimuthaldirectionsandacrossthefullaltituderangeofA-bandemission.Asthetemperatureincreases,therelativeintensityoftheRbranch(759-762nm)increasesandshiftstoshorterwavelengthwhilethePbranch(762-770nm)widensandshiftstolongerwavelength.Thus,theneutraltemperature(Tn)canbeestimatedfromthequalitativeshapeoftheA-band.

Overthenextyear,theteamwillcompletethesystemrequirementsreview,finalizetheradio-metricmodel,completeaPreliminaryDesignReview(PDR),anddeveloptheengineeringunit.

Planned Technology

Thesatellitebuswillincorporateanumberofuniquefeatures:

A.Thesatellitewillpointatthelimbtowithinafewfractionsofadegreeandmakelowerthermospherictemperaturemeasurements

OPAL instrument viewing the earth limb.


B.ThesatellitewillusethenextgenerationhighspeedCADETradiolinkthatwillbesupportedprimarilybytheNASAWFFUHFstationandsecondarilybytheDoDMC3 stations

C.ThesatellitebusisaCOLONY2bus

Planned Education

About12studentswillbeinvolvedfromUtahState,UniversityofMarylandEasternShore,andDIXIEState(inUtah).Theywillsupportdevelopmentoftheprograminallareas,includingsci-ence,instrumentdevelopment,missionoperations,testandcalibration,andon-orbitoperations.


Project Description

QB50isaninternationalnetworkof50CubeSatsformulti-point,in-situmeasurementsinthelargely-unexploredlowerthermosphereandre-entryresearch.LedbytheVonKarmanInsti-tute(VKI)ofBelgium,theQB50projectisexpectedtobepredominantlyfundedfromtheFP7GrantbytheEuropeanUnion(EU).However,afundinggapexists,whichistobecoveredbytheNationalScienceFoundation.

QBUSeffortsbeganinearnestin2011andreceivedplanningsupportfromtheNationalScienceFoundation.Consortiummemberscoalescedaroundacommonarchitectureanddesignphilosophyfrombroadcommunityengagementduring2011andmemberintuitionsprovidedsignificantfeedbackanddesigneffortsduringregularworkshopsandtelecoms.

InAprilof2012,theconsortiumsubmittedaproposaltoparticipateinQB50forconsiderationtoVKI.QBUSwasnotifiedthatuponreviewtheproposalwasamongthetopofanyproposinggroupfromamong70+proposalsrepresentingmorethan25countries.

InMayof2012,theconsortiumsubmittedaproposaltotheNationalScienceFoundationtohelpsupportthescientificinvestigationsandbroaderimpactsenabledbyQB50participation.FundingfromNSFbeganinOctober2013.ThemoneyfromNSFallowedconsortiumstudentteamstobeginbuildingandtestingtheCubeSatbuses.ThisalsoallowedteamstopurchaseIon-NeutralMassSpectrometer(INMS)instrumentsfromtheMullardSpaceScienceLaboratory(MSSL). Planned Scientific Accomplishments

All50CubeSatswillbelaunchedtogetherinApril2015intoacircularorbitat320kmalti-tude,inclination79º.Duetoatmosphericdrag,theorbitswilldecayandtheCubeSatswillbeabletoexplorealllayersofthelowerthermospherewithouttheneedforon-boardpropul-sion,downto90or100km,dependingonthequalityoftheirthermaldesign.ItisexpectedthatthenetworkwillspreadaroundtheEarthwithinamonthbydeployingonlyoneCubeSatduringeachorbit.ThelifetimeoftheCubeSatsfromdeploymentuntilatmospherere-entrywillbelessthanthreemonths.

TheQBUSteamwillbuildfouridentical2UCubeSatflightunits,withparticipatingmembersprovidingtheusualsatellitefunctions(attitudedeterminationandcontrol,uplinkanddown-linktelecommunications,powersubsystemincludingabatteryandbody-mountedsolarcells,on-boarddatahandlingandstoragebyaCPU).TheQBUSteamhasselectedtheMullardSpaceScienceLaboratory(MSSL)Ion-NeutralMassSpectrometer(INMS)sensorfromthethreeQB50options.EachuniversityontheQBUSteamwillprovideaflightunitwiththeintegratedpayloadsprovidedbyQB50,whichwillbedeliveredtoDraperLaboratoryforfinaltesting,checkoutandITARcompliantshipment.Furthermore,QBUSwillprocureadditionalcomponentsforqualificationandtestingduringthebuildphase,providingadditionalriskmitigation,spareparts,andloweredcosts(5+componentpricesaresignificantlylower).TestinganddeliverywillbecommensuratewiththespecifiedQB50timeline.

Thisfirst-of-a-kindthermosphericconstellationofCubeSatswillallowtheinvestigationofthetransitionregionbetween100–300km.Thisareaoftheatmosphererangesbetweenwellmixed,neutrallydominatedforcingandheavilyionized,electricallydominatedforcing.Thechangefrompressuregradientdrivenresponsestoelectricfielddrivendynamicsprovidesa

QB50/QBUS


sourcetermformomentumandenergytransferthatishighlydynamicandoftenunpredictable.Thisleadstouncertaintyinthebehaviorofdensity,winds,andtemperaturesofboththeionsandtheneutrals.Thereisalsoalackofunderstandingofatmosphericcompositioninthisre-gionduetoscarcityofmeasurementsaswelltheinfluenceofbackgroundparameters,chemis-try,andforcingfromthelowerthermosphere. TheINMSoneachofthefourQBUSCubeSatscanuncovernewinformationaboutthecompo-sitionandvariabilityofthelowerthermosphere.Whencombinedwiththefullsuiteofinstru-mentationintheQB50constellation,boththeionizedandneutralstateparametersoftheatmosphere/ionosphere,itsvariability,response,andinterconnectionscanbeuncovered.Inadditiontocuriosity-drivensciencethataimstodeterminethegoverningphysicsoftheregion,theQB50missionwillalsoprovideapracticalapplicationformeasurementsrelatedtosat-ellitedrag.InatimewhensatellitepresenceinLEOcontinuestoexpandandde-orbitingsat-elliteshavebecomemorecommon,itisimportanttobeabletopredictwherethesesatellitesmightre-entertheatmospheretoensurehumansafety.Thisrequiresbettercharacterizationofthelowerthermosphericmassdensityandwinds.

Further,thelowerthermosphereandionospherearehighlydynamic,withauroral,solarandtidalinputsallmixingtogether.Thismeansthatitiscrucialtohavemultipointmeasurementsifwearetounderstandhowthesystemevolvesovertime.Theconstellationapproach,bothwith-intheconsortiumandacrosstheinstrumentsuitesontheQB50CubeSats,willprovideanewsetoftransformativemeasurementsthatwillleadtoanenhancedunderstandingoftheregionaswellasnewpredictivecapabilities.

Planned Technology

Eachofthe2UCubeSatsforQBUSwillhaveaUniversityofMichigan(UM)structurewithtwodeployedsolarpanelstoform“wings”,allowingmoresolarenergytobecollect-ed,asshowninthefigure.Thetwofunda-mentalrequirementsoftheQB50satellitesaretoflytheinstrumentpackagefacingintheramdirectionandtominimizethedragtoallowforlongerlifetime.Therefore,theQBUSCubeSatswillbeflownwiththeinstrumentpointedintoramandthe“top”rotatedinsuchawaytomaximizesolarcollection,allowingustomaximizetheop-erationtheinstrumentsineachorbit.EachoftheproposedQBUSCubeSatsisde-signedtocarryanINMSpackage.CommunicationwiththegroundwilloccurviaaLithiumUHFradio,whichhasflownonmanyoftheNSFmissions.ThepowersystemwillbethepreviouslyflownUniversityofMichigan(UM)designedsystem(blendoftheRAX,RAX-2andM-CubedEPSsystems).Theon-boardcomputerwillbetheMSP430,whichhasflownonawidevarietyofmissions,andhasalargesoftwarebasedesignedforitfromUMandUniversityofColora-do(CU).Theattitudedeterminationandcontrolsystem(ADCS)willbeamagnetictorquerodonlysystemwithheritagefromUM(throughCADRE)ortheMAI-QB50singlewheelsystem.TheUMsystemisbaselined,buttheviabilityoftheMAI-QB50willbeinvestigatedintermsofcost,massandcomplexitybythepreliminarydesignreview(PDR).

QBUS Cubesat cut-away layout.


Planned Education

Currently,QBUS(QB50US)isaconsortiumofsevenUSinstitutions(threeresearchuniversities,oneHispanicminorityundergraduateuniversityandtwonationallaboratories,and1smallbusiness)allwithsignificantCubeSatandscienceexperience.

QBUSenablesstudents’scienceandhands-onengineeringexperiencewithinaUniversity/Laboratoryconsortiumexpandingaccesstoparticipationandprovidesvaluableprofessionalcontacts.Thegoalistohaveover200participatingstudents.Thiswillincludealargenumberofunrepresentedgrounds,suchasHispanicstudentsfromaminorityservingundergraduateinstitutionsinPuertoRico.


LowerAtmosphere/IonosphereCoupling

Experiment(LAIC

E) Project Description

LAICEisalowEarthorbit(LEO)CubeSatmissionfocusedonunderstandinghowwavesgener-atedbyweathersystemsintheloweratmospherepropagateanddeliverenergyandmo-mentumintothemesosphere,lowerthermosphere,andionosphere(MLTI).Thesewavesareavitallyimportantbutunder-exploredfacetofatmosphericphysics.Theystronglyinfluencethedynamicsofthemediathroughwhichtheytravelbymodifyingthestructureoftheatmosphereataltitudeswellabovetheirsourceregions,andtheymayseedthedevelopmentofplasmainstabilitiesthatscintillateanddisruptradiopropagation.Ourexperimentwillbethefirstglobalsatelliteinvestigationtofocusentirelyonthesewaves,andtoattempttoconnecttheircausesandeffectsinthreewidelydifferentaltituderanges.In-situinstrumentationaboardLAICEwillmeasuretheperturbationsthewavesproduceinbothneutralandionden-sitiesatF-regionheights,whileon-boardphotometerswillsimultaneouslymeasurethewavelengthsandamplitudesofthewavefieldsintheuppermesosphere.Subsequentmodelingcoupledwithmeteorologicaldatawillrevealtheconnectionsbetweentropo-sphericstormsandtheMLTIsystemusingstate-of-the-artraytracingtechniquesthatincludetheeffectsofwavedissipation.


ThepreferredorbitforLAICEiscircularat375-400kmaltitude,ataninclinationnear45degrees.Thisorbitwillallowthesystemto:

1. Systematically observe gravity waveswithlargeverticalwavelengthsatlowerF-regionheights,andcorrelateonaglobalscaleremotely-sensedwave-inducedairglowperturbationsintheuppermesospherewithin-situmeasurementsofionandneutraldensityfluctuationsathigheraltitudes;

2. Produce global maps of active gravity wave re-gionsinthemid-andlow-latitudeionosphereovermultipleseasonsatalllocaltimes,sothatglobalpatternsandclimatologicalvariationscanbequantitativelycomparedtoandcorrelatedwithterrestrialweathersystemsviaray-tracemodeling.

TheLAICEprojectwasfundedearlyinthesummerof2013,sotodatetheteamhascarriedoutdesignworkontheinstrumentationandflightsoftware.Somehardwarehasbeenfabricat-ed(seetheRetardingPotentialAnalyzer(RPA)figure),andschematicshavebeengeneratedfortheinstrumentationsystems.Testingoftheflightsoftwarehasbegunusingsimulateddatastreams.TheUIandVTteamsholdweeklytelecomstofostercollaborativedesigneffortsbetweenthegroups.

LAICE in Orbit.

Retarding Potential Analyzer for the LAICE system.


TheLAICEinorbitfigureshowsacartoonviewoftheLAICEsystemtoprovideabetterunder-standingoftheoverallconfiguration.

Planned Technology

Thisisthefirst6UCubeSatfundedbyNSF,anditincludes3distinctinstruments.Oneoftheinstruments(SpacePressureSensor)comprisesatechnologydemonstrationcomponentutilizingcoldfieldemittersasaspace-basedionizationsource.ThebusfortheLAICEsatelliteincludestheILLINI-2buswhichincludesmagnetictorqueforattitudecontrolusingcoilsimbeddedinflexcircuits.AmechanicalstructureusingarailassemblyprovidesasimplifiedassemblyandexpandstovariousCubeSatdimensions.Thesolarpanelsubstratesareacarbonepoxyforlowmassconsiderations.BothaCadetRadio(460-470MHz)whichwaswelltestedonthetwoDICEspacecraftandanamateurbandradio(437MHz)areplannedforcommunication.TheamateurbandradioincludesauniquemodemusingaDigitalSignalProcessing(DSP)micro-processor.

Planned Education

Fromtheeducationalstandpoint,VTdoesnothaveaspecificcoursebuiltaroundtheLAICEproject,butelementsoftheLAICEdesignwillbeaccomplishedthroughaseniordesigncourse.Inadditiontothis,variouselementsoftheLAICEprojectareformingthebasisforgraduatethesisandprojectwork(M.Engineeringdegree).FiveVTgraduatestudentsareutilizingLAICEdesigneffortstosatisfytheirresearch/designdegreerequirements,andthreeundergradu-atesareassistingintheseefforts.

TheplannededucationalelementsatUIincludethedirectinvolvementofElectricalandAeroEngineeringstudentsinaSeniorDesignclassnamed‘Cubesat’.TheLAICEsatellitedevelop-mentactivitiesintheclasslaboratorywillinvolvetheLAICEsatellitedevelopmentandtesting.Itisestimatedthat15studentswillbeintheclass.A5-6experiencestudentteamwillcontinuesoftwaredevelopmentforthebus(3students)and2-3otherswillworkhardwareandtesting.


CubesatforIons,Neutrals,Electronsand

MAgneticfields(CIN

EMA) Project Description

TheCubesatforIons,Neutrals,ElectronsandMAgneticfields,orCINEMA,isa3UspacecraftbuiltbystudentsattheSpaceSciencesLaboratory(SSL)attheUniversityofCaliforniaBerke-ley(UCB).CINEMAhasoneoperatingspacecraftandisscheduledtobecomeafoursatelliteconstellationmissionwiththeultimategoalofimagingtheEarth’sdynamicringcurrentthroughremotesensingofEnergeticNeutralAtoms(ENAs).ENAsrepresentauniquewaytoremotesenseenergeticplasmapopulationsandCINEMApushestheinstrumentationtostudytheseparticlesfrom4keVtohundredsofkeVintoremarkablysmallpackages.CINEMA-2and-3areslatedtobelaunchedbycollaboratinginstitutionsinFall,2013andthe4thcopyisplannedforlaunchinmid-2014.TheseadditionalcopiesoftheCubeSathavesolvednumer-ousoperationalissuesfoundinthefirstCINEMAandexpectationsforgoodsciencereturnarehigh.


CINEMAhopestobecomethefirstCubeSatmissionwithfouroperating3UCubeSatsimagingtheEarth’sringcurrentfrommultipleperspectives.Theconstellationofsatelliteswillmakeco-ordinatedmeasurementsandwillcomplementnicelywiththeinsitumeasurementsbeingmadebylargersatellites,suchasthetwosatelliteVanAllenProbes,andthemultisatelliteTHEMISmission.CINEMA’ssensitiveSTEINinstrumentwithmultipleviewingangleshasthecapabilitytomakethehighesttimeresolutionimagesofinjectionsintotheearth’sringcurrentandstudytheearlytimeprofileofringcurrentgrowthacrossalllocaltimes.Softwaretointegratethemulti-pleviewinganglesintoimprovedspatialinformationisunderdevelopmentandshouldprovideatoolforadditionalfutureringcurrentENAobservations.

Planned Technology

LessonslearnedfromCINEMA1arebeingincorporatedintoCINEMA2,3and4spacecraftwillbesharedwithotherteamsthroughthemonthlyNSFPrincipalInvestigator(PI)teleconfer-ences.


CompositionVariationsintheExosphere,

Thermosphere,andTopsideIonosphere(EXOCUBE) Project Description

TheExoCubesatelliteisbeingdevelopedbyScientificSolutions,NASAGoddard,CaliforniaPolytechnicStateUniversity,UniversityofWisconsinandUniversityofIllinois.Theprimarymissionofthesatelliteistomeasure[O],[H],[He],[O+],[H+],[He+]overthepolesandoverincoherentscatterradar(ISR)groundstations.DatafromthesatelliteandtheISRstationswillbecompared.

ExoCubeisonELaNa-XSMAP,–scheduledforlaunchinOctober2014.Theorbitwillbeap-proximately400x670kmaltitudeand98°inclinationwithanexpectedorbitallifetimeofeightyears.Expectedminimummissionlifewillbesixmonths.ThefiguresbelowshowExoCubeanditsorientationinorbitandtheexpectedoverpassesofgroundbasedobservingsites.


TheExoCubemissionisdesignedtoacquireglobalknowledgeofthein-situdensitiesof[O],[H],[He],[O+],[H+],[He+]intheupperionosphereandlowerexosphere,usingagatedtime-of-flightspectrometer.Atomicoxygenandheliumhavenotbeenmeasuredinsitusincetheearly1980sduringtheeraoftheDynamicsExplorerandthenonlyfor18months.Atomichydrogenhasneverbeendirectlymeasuredinsituinthisregion.Byprovidingbenchmarkmea-surementsoverArecibo,Wisconsin,KittPeak,andCerroTololo,ExoCubeaidsinthevalidationandinter-comparisonofground-basedobservationsfromthesesitesusingpassiveopticalin-terferometryandphotometryofneutralairglowemissionsaswellasactiveISRtocharacterizethelocalionosphere.

ExoCubedensitymeasurementswillbeusedtocharacterizetheclimatologyoftheupperion-osphericandlowerexosphericcomposition.Thecombinationoforbitalinclinationandpreces-sionwillenablearobustassessmentofdiurnaldensityandcompositionvariations,whiletheexpectedminimumsix-monthmissionlifetimewillfacilitatecomparisonsbetweenequinoxandsolsticeconditions.Keyscientificobjectivesincludeinvestigationofupperatmosphericglobal,diurnal,andseasonalvariability,chargeexchangeprocesses,atmosphericresponsetogeo-magneticstorms,andvalidationofempiricalandclimatologicalatmosphericmodels(e.g.MSIS,TIE-GCM).ExoCubemeasurementsofin-situneutralhydrogenalsohelpconstrainretrievalsof

Left: ExoCube orientation on-orbit. Right: With updated orbital parameters, ExoCube’s observatory overpasses can be predicted for timing coincident ground based airglow observations.


aeronomicalpa-rametersofinterestfromairglowobser-vationsandforwardradiativetransfermodeling.

Aground-basedremotesensingobservationofthefluorescentBalmerαcolumnemissionfromatomichydro-genisoneoftheprimarymethodsforstudyingthehydro-gendistributionintheupperthermosphereandexosphere.Thesemeasurementsaresensitivenotonlytothermosphericandexosphericatomichydrogendensity,butalsotothesolarexci-tationfluxandradiativetransfer,includingmultiplescatteringofthesolarLymanβexcitationradiationbelowtheEarth’sshadow.Geophysicalquantitiesareretrievedbyreconcilingtheseobservationswithforwardmodelpredictionsbasedonspecificationofamodelhydrogendis-tributionfunctionandcalculationofradiationtransport(RT)toaccountforthesignificantmulti-plescatteringinthegeocorona.ExoCubemeasurementsofin-situhydrogendensitieswithnearcoincidentground-basedBalmerαwillprovideanindependentconstrainttotheseretrievalsofthehydrogendensityprofileandflux.

ChargeexchangeprocessesinvolvingH,O,H+,andO+,areimportantforsustainingnight-timeF-regionionosphericdensityaswellasforgoverningthermalequilibriumandnon-equi-libriumatmosphericescapeprocesses.Theequationsgoverningsuchprocesses(theprotoncontinuityequationandtheO+momentumandenergybalanceequations)requireaccuratespecificationofrelevantspeciesdensitiesinordertoisolatekeychargeexchangecollisionalcrosssectionsastheonlyfreeparameters.Sincetheseratecoefficientsarenotwellcharac-terizedbylaboratorymeasurements,theExoCubeconstraintswillthusenablemoreaccuratedeterminationoftheratecoefficientsandhenceretrievalofthebothOandHdensityfrompastandfutureground-basedobservations.

ExoCubein-situobservationswillprovideadatasetthatcanbeusedforvalidationofbothempiricalandclimatemodels.ThermospherichydrogendensitiesintheempiricalNRLMSISE-00modelarederivedfromchargeexchangeequilibriumanalysesofAtmosphericExplorersat-ellitesimultaneousobservationsofH+,O+,andO.Comparisonsofground-basedhydrogenemissionobservationswithMSISindicatediscrepancies.ExoCubein-situmeasurements[H],[O],and[He]willbecomparedwithMSISatdifferentlatitudesandduringdifferentdiurnalandseasonalconditions.SimilarlyExoCubein-situmeasurementsofneutraldensitieswillprovidearesourceforvalidationofclimatemodelssuchastheThermosphere-Ionosphere-Meso-sphere-EnergeticsGlobal-Circulation-Model(TIME-GCM)andthethermosphericextensionoftheWholeAtmosphereCommunityClimateModel(WACCM).Insitumeasurementsofhydro-genwillalsohelpvalidatetheupperboundaryconditionsforhydrogenchemistryandcompo-sitionincludedinthesemodels.

LEFT: an STK model of ExoCube orbits passing over ground based sites. RIGHT: a view of ExoCube passing over ground based observatories; the red circles are the field-of-view of the ground based instruments at the nominal orbital altitude.


Planned TechnologyEnvironmental Chamber

TheEnvironmentalChamberisthehousingforthetwoscientificinstruments,aminiaturizedmassspectrometerandanionsensor.Itisdesignedtosecuretheinstrumentsandprovidetheneces-saryconditionsforaccuratedatacollection.Thechamberincorporatesthefollowingfeatures:

•ShapeMemoryAlloyWireActuators •Allowforthecontrolledreleaseofhatchescoveringinletports •AdjustableCheckValve •UsedtofillthechamberwithSulfurHexaflouride(SF6) •Providesunidirectionalflow •UmbrellaValves •Sealthechamberuntilspecifiedpressuredifferentialisreached •ServeasexhaustportsfortheSulfurHexaflouride •SiliconeO-RingGaskets •Maintainpositivepressureinthechamber •Providealow-outgassingsealAttitude Determination Control System (ADCS)

Toachieveaccuratemeasurements,therearepointingandorientationrequirementsforthemission.ThesatellitemustmaintainaNadirpointingof+/-10degreesandaramknowledgeof+/-5degrees.Tomaintaintheserequirements,anattitudedeterminationcontrolsystem(ADCS)wasdevelopedbyPolySatandintegratedonthesatellite.Thecontrolsystemhasthefollowingcomponents:

•GravityGradientsystemwithdeployablebooms oProvidespassivecontrolofthesystemwithnopower oHelpsmaintainpointingandrateofchangeofthesatellitewithADCS turnedoff oProvidesstabilityduringmomentumwheelspinup oBoomsdevelopedin-house •SinclairMomentumWheel o10-mNmmomentumwheel oOrientatedonpitchaxistoproviderigidityandstabilityofpointing oCouplesrollandyawaxestogethertoprovidegyroscopicstability •KalmanFilter oCalculatesorientationbasedonSGP4propagator,solararray measurements,andmagnetometers oFiltersoutnoisefromsensors,actuators,andothersystemdisturbances toachieveaccurateorientation oAcquireinitialorientationusingTRIADalgorithm oStaysonfordurationofmission oWorksforeccentricities<.1andrates<10degrees/second •PDcontroller oPDcontrollawdevelopedbyBongWieforagravitygradientADCS oChosenforsimplicityandpowerefficiency oProvenglobalstabilitybyBongWie


•SensorsandActuators oMagnetometersforreadingmagneticfield oSolararraysensorsforcalculatingorientationinreferencetothesun oMagnetorquers,designedbyPolySat,fortorqueingandcontrollingthe satellite oGyroscopeforverificationofrates •Z-panelcamera oOmnivision3Megapixelcamerawith25degreefieldofview oOnbothz-panels oUsedforverificationofboomdeployment oCancalculateratesandorientationofsatellitewithseveralsuccessive pictures oDerivativeimagingscalestheimagesdowntomakedownloadfrom satellitequickerandeasier oCamerasweretestedonCP8balloonlaunchandareonCP8whichis scheduledforlaunchattheendof2013 Planned Education

Anewremotesensinginstrument(SpatialHeterodyneSpectrometer)forBalmer-al-phaairglowmeasurements(coincidentwithin-situExoCubedensitymeasure-ments)hasveryrecentlybeeninstalledatPineBluffObservatoryandiscurrent-lybeingfieldtested.SHSintensityandsensitivitycalibrationsarebeingconduct-ednowbyUWMadisongraduatestu-dentDerekGardneraspartofhisPh.D.dissertationwork.ThisSHSisexpectedtobefullyoperationalbynextsummerandwillbeoneofseveralopticalinstrumentscontributingtothecoordinatedgroundbasedcampaignobservationeffortsoftheExoCubemission.

Senior Projects

•KyleTeixeiraandMelodyGolobic(Submitted),PolysatExoCubeEnvironmental ChamberDesignandTesting.

•BrianGilbertTubb(2012),RadioLinkAnalysisandCharacterizationofPastand FutureCalPolyCubeSats. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1195&context=eesp

•BlakeSimon(2013),ExoCubeStructure.

•DominicBurtillino(2013),ImplementingaMATLABBasedAttitudeDetermination AlgorithminCwithinthePolySatSoftwareArchitecture. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1080&context=cpesp

Proposed Kalman filter for ExoCube.


•MattZimmerer(2013),LeoNano-SatelliteClockSynchronizationSoftware. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=cpesp

Master Thesis

•RyanSellers(2012),AGravityGradient,Momentum-BiasedAttitudeControlSystem foraCubeSat. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2057&context=theses

•ArashMehrparvar(InProgress),KalmanFilterDesignandAttitudeDesign. •AustinWilliams(InProgress),Compact,ReconfigurableUHFCommunicationSystem forusewithPolySat’sEmbeddedLinuxPlatform.

•SeanFitzsimmons(2012),ReliableSoftwareUpdatesforOn-orbitCubeSatSatellites. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1849&context=theses

High School Balloon Launches

CalPolyhasbeendoinganoutreachprogramwithlocalhighschoolsforthelastthreeyears.Thehighschoolstudentsparticipateintheprogramoversummeronthecollegecampus.Thestudentsbrainstormprojectideasandmissiongoalsforapayloadonahighaltitudeballoon.TheCalPolystudentsteachtheprocessforatypicalmissionfromproposaltoflight.ThehighschoolstudentsthenfollowasimilarprocessfortheirpayloadastheCalPolystudentsassist.Payloadstypicallyincludeacameracontrolledbyamicrocontrolleralongwithenvironmentalsensors.CalPolyfacilitiesareusedbythestudentstohelpcreatetheirpayload.TheballoonistrackedwithamateurradioequipmentandaGPStransmittingtoAPRSstationsforlivetracking.ThestudentsandtheCalPolyteamthentracktheballoonasitascendsanddescendswithaparachute.See http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3945&con-text=pao_pr.

The CalPoly ExoCube team!


CubesatinvestigatingAtmospheric

DensityResponsetoExtremedriving(CADRE) Project Description

TheCubesatinvestigatingAtmosphericDensityResponsetoExtremedriving(CADRE)isa3UCubeSatdesignedandbuiltbyundergraduateandMaster’s-levelsstudentsattheUniversityofMichigan(UM).ThescientificgoalofCADREistostudyhowtheauroradepositsenergyintotheupperatmosphereandhowtheatmosphererespondstothatenergyintermsofwaves,windsandcompositionalchanges.CADREwillbelaunchedinlate2014onanAtlasVthroughtheNASAEducationalLaunchofNanosatellites(ELaNa)programintoahighinclinationorbitsothatitcanviewtheauroraonmostorbits.ThesciencepayloadofCADREistheWindIonNeutralCompositionSuite(WINCS),whichwillmeasurethethermosphericandion-osphericdensity,temperature,windsandcompositionusingfourelectrostaticanalyz-ers(ESAs)andtwomassspectrometers.


CADREisaimingforaone-yearsciencemission.TheESAswillbemountedinpairs,withonepairmountedperpendiculartotheotherpair.ThiswillallowWINCStomeasurethehorizontalandverticalcross-trackwinds.TheESAwillmeasurethebulkenergyoftheflow,whichwillallowthethirdcomponent(thein-trackwind)tobederived.Oneofeachpairwillmeasuretheionflowswhiletheotherwillmeasuretheneutralflows.Inordertogetthemea-surementsrequiredforthewinds,CADREwillhavetohavethree-axisstabilitytoonedegreeofcontroland0.1degreeofknowledge.Thismeansthatthreereactionwheelswillfly,astartrackerandtwofinesunsensors.

TheUniversityofMichiganhaslaunchedthreeCubeSatsintoorbit-RAX,RAX-2andM-Cubed.RAXandM-Cubedweresomewhatdifferentdesigns,withtheM-Cubedstudentsbeingessentiallyindependentofanyrealfacultyadviseforthedesignphaseofthemission,whiletheRAXstudentswerebeingledbyJamesCutler.TheteamhasrecentlydeliveredM-Cubed-2,whichisahybriddesignbe-tweenRAXandM-Cubed.CADREisusingsignificanttechnologythathasbeencreatedforM-Cubed-2’savionicspackage.

Planned Technology

M-Cubed-2wasdeliveredinJuly,2013.CADREwilluseM-Cubed-2’sCommandandDataHandlingboard,whichisbasedonamicroprocessorrunningLinux.TheElectricandPower

CADRE Exploring the Ionosphere.

CADRE Spacecraft Deployed.


System(EPS)fromM-Cubed-2workedprettywell,butitwasquitenoisy,sotheteamisinves-tigatingahybridbetweentheM-Cubed-2andRAXEPS.Thisshouldonlytakeamonthortwotocreate.Thebasicdesignofthestructureiscompleted,withthedeployablepanelandhingedesignsnearlycomplete.Theteamhascreatedmassmodelsforeachofthemostexpensivepartstoallowustoshakethestructuretolimitsofthelaunchvehicle.TheUHFbeaconiscom-pletedandwillbemountedontheCDHboard.TheWINCSpayloadisbeingmanufactured;withtheWINCSinterfaceboardbeingdeliveredtoUMinSeptember,2013.

TheteamhasbeenworkingonmanytechnologicalinnovationsforCADRE.Forexample,theS-Bandradioisnew.ThereareveryfewS-BandradiosinaCubeSatformfactorthatcanreachspeedsof1Mbps(Mega-bit-per-second).Theteamisdevelopingonebecauseitwasfeltthatbuyinganexistingonewouldrequirealmostasmuchworkasbuildingone(interfac-ing,modulation,etc.).Fortheattitudedetermi-nationandcontrolsystem,CADREismostlyusingoff-the-shelfparts,butassemblingtheentireunitwithcustomsoftware.APh.D.studenthasbeenworkingonthealgorithmsforthis,anditwasfeltthatpurchasingacompletepackagewouldnotallowtheflexibilityofsoftwarethatbuildingonewouldoffer.

Planned Education

ThetwolargestsubsystemsthatneedworkaretheS-Bandradio,whichisbeingbuiltalmostexclu-sivelybythestudents.Anexperiencedstudentdidmostofthedesignworkontheradiooverthelastyear,butgraduatedinApril.Heiscontinuingtohelpwiththeradio,butremotely.Thestudentswhoareworkingonitnowarelearningasfastastheycanandaredebuggingproblemsthatarise.TheAttitudeDeterminationandControlSystem(ADCS)ismadeupofsensors(startracker,finesunsensors,rategyrosandamagnetometer)aswellasactua-tors(reactionwheelsandmagnetictorquerods).

Thereisagroupofstudentswhoareworkingoneachofthedifferentcomponents.Twoofthestudentsarecreatinganelectricaldesignoftheentiresystemandareclosetobread-boardingitup.Theyhaveflownsomeofthesensors(magnetom-eterandgyros)onballoonflights.Thewheelshavebeenorderedanddelivered.Astudenthasveri-fiedthattheycangetthewheelstospin.Softwaredrivershavebeenwrittenformanyofthedevices.Inaddition,aKalmanfilterhasbeenwrittentodeterminetheorientationofthesatellitegiventhesensorinputs.Further,acontrolalgorithmhasbeenimplementedtodrivetheactuators.Thiscombinationoforientationandcontrolsoftwareworktogetherandhavebeentestedonvariousplatformsusingsyntheticdata.TheteamisworkingonportingthisovertoaplatformthatwillbeconsistentwiththeADCSprocessor.

CADREisbeingdesigned,builtandtestedbystudentsattheundergraduateandMaster’slevelattheUniversityofMichigan.Over50studentsattheselevelsareworkingonCADRE

CADRE 3-U Housing and Preliminary Design.

CADRE Main Components.


throughdifferentclassprojects(Aerospaceseniordesign,andvariousAtmospheric,OceanicandSpaceSciences-AOSS-designclasses)andduringthesummerthroughpaid“internships”.ThevastmajorityofthestudentsareAero-spaceengineeringstudents,buttherearealsomanyMechanicalandElectricalEngineeringstudents.TheMaster’sstudentsareallMas-ter’sinSpaceSystemsEngineeringAOSSstudents.

TherehavebeentwoPh.D.stu-dentswhohaveworkedonCADRE,namelyworkingonthedesignoftheADCSalgorithmsanddeterminingthenumberofsolarcellsonthebodyanddeployedpanels.WehaveanewPh.D.studentwhohasjuststartedinSeptember2013.

Publications

J.T.Hwang,D.Y.Lee,J.W.Cutler,andJ.R.R.A.Martins,“Large-ScaleMDOofaSmallSatelliteusingaNovelFrameworkfortheSolutionofCoupledSystemsandtheirDerivatives“,Proceed-ingsofthe54thAIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASCStructures,StructuralDynamics,andMaterialsConference,Boston,MA,April2013.

D.Y.LeeandJ.W.Cutler,“DesignoptimizationofaSolarPanelAngleanditsApplicationtoCubeSat‘CADRE’.”In2013CubeSatDevelopers’Workshop,April2013.

JamesCutler,AaronRidleyandAndrewNicholas,CubesatInvestigatingAtmosphericDensityResponsetoExtremeDriving,25thAnnualAIAA/USUConferenceonSmallSatellites,Logan,UT,August2011(SSC11-IV-7).

Presentations

AaronRidleyandJamesCutler,UsingConstellationsofSmallSatellitestoAddressLargeProblems,CEDAR,Boulder,CO,June24-28,2013.

AaronRidleyandJamesCutler,UMCubeSatActivities,CEDAR,Boulder,CO,June24-28,2013.

AaronRidley,JamesCutlerandAndrewNicholas,CubesatInvestigatingAtmosphericDensityResponsetoExtremeDriving,CEDAR,SantaFe,NM,June25-29,2012.

AaronRidley,JamesCutlerandAndrewNicholas,CubesatInvestigatingAtmosphericDensityResponsetoExtremeDriving,CNSF,WashingtonDC,May15,2012.

AaronRidley,JamesCutlerandAndrewNicholas,MissionAssuranceVersusCost-ThinkinginaSmallerBox,AGUFallMeeting,SanFrancisco,CA,December5-9,2011.

AaronRidleyandmanyothers,Armada-ANanosatConstellationMissiontoStudytheThermosphericReactiontoEnergyInputAcrossAllScales,QB50Meeting,Brussels,Belgium,May2011.

CADRE Team.


Project Description

Lightningdischargesrepre-sentthereleaseofenormousamountsofenergyandareassociatedwithfamiliarandpowerfulmanifestationsneartheEarth’ssurface:thunder,abrightflash,andpowerfulcurrentsthatcanshattertreesandturnsandtoglass.Light-ninggivesrisetox-rayandgamma-raybursts,andunlikethewell-knownflashesoflightandclapsofthunder,theseenergeticraysarechanneledupwardandcanbedetectedonlyfromspace.ACubeSatmission,calledFirefly,sponsoredbytheNationalScienceFoundation,willexploretherela-tionshipbetweenlightningandtheseburstsofradiationcalledTerrestrialGammaRayFlashes(TGFs).FireflydemonstratesthecapabilityofsmallmissionssuchasCubeSatstodoimportant,focusedscience,withabundantstudentinvolvement,andwithaminimalbudgetandavailableresources.TheFigureshowstheFireflyCubeSatassembledandreadyforlaunch. Planned Science Accomplishments

FireflyandFirestationwillsoonanswerthefollowingsciencequestions.WhatcausesaTGF’shigh-energyflashes?Doesittriggerlightning--ordoeslightningtriggerit?Coulditberesponsibleforsomeofthehigh-energyparticlesintheVanAllenradiationbelts,whichcandamagesatellites?Seehttp://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=124901.TheFireflyCubeSatandFireflyISSpayloadwillreturnthefirstsimultaneousmeasurementsofTGFsandlightning.“Firefly(andFirestation)willprovidethefirstdirectevidenceforarela-tionshipbetweenlightningandTGFs,”saysWeatherwax.“Identifyingthesourceofterrestrialgamma-rayflasheswillbeahugesteptowardunderstandingthephysicsoflightninganditseffectonEarth’satmosphere.”

Firestationcoversawidermeasurementrange.Itwilltakeadvantageofacamera,alsoonboardtheISSpallet,tosnapphotosoflightningflashessothatresearcherscanpreciselylocatewheretheyareoccurring.Furthermore,Firestationwillenjoyadataratethatisabout3,000timeslargerthanFirefly’s,whichmeanstheteamwillbeabletosampleeverylightningstroke,insteadofFirefly’scarefullyselectedsample.Seehttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/firestation-rowland.html.

FirestationwillalsooperateinorbitlongerthanFireflyprovidinganorderofmagnitudebet-tercoverage.Duringthefirst1100secondsorsoofthispartialorbitshowninthefigure,thereisanicecleanlow-backgroundinterval(afewhundredcountspersecond).TypicalTGFswillbe10-100countsinonemillisecond,andsowillstandoutnicely.Thehighercountrateback-groundregionsareintheSouthAtlanticAnomaly(SAA)andhigherlatituderegions(primarilySAA).

FireflyandFireStation

Firefly, assembled and ready for delivery for launch.


Planned Technology

LessonslearnedfromtheoperationofbothFireflyandFirestationwillbesharedwithotherteamsthroughthemonth-lyNSFPrincipalInvestigator(PI)teleconferences.

Planned Education

UndergraduatestudentsatSienaCollegehavebeeninvolvedinallaspectsoftheproject,fromdesignandde-velopment,throughfabricationandtest,tomissionoperationsanddataanalysis.Thesestudentsreceivedaveryrareopportunityforhands-on,end-to-endexperienceonareal-lifespaceproject.Inthefuture,theywillalsogetachancetotraveltonationalmeetingstotalkabouttheirworkonFireStationandFirefly,andtolearnfromotherscientistsandengineers. LocalhighschoolstudentsandinternswillalsohaveaccesstotheFireStationdataandedu-cationalmaterials.TheFireStationprojectwillalsoinvolvetheoperationoftwoWorldWideLightningLocationNetworkVLFgroundstations,oneatSienaandanotherattheUniversidadPrivadaBoliviana(Dr.AugustaAbrahamse),providingstudentaccesstoatoolthatcanbeusedformanydataanalysisprojects,andthatwillbeapermanentadditiontotheeducation-alinfrastructureattheseinstitutions.

TheSienaundergraduateteamwillfurthersupportthedevelopmentofawebsite,withcontin-uousupdatesonthedevelopmentoftheinstrumentandspacecraft,andon-orbitmissionstatus,openaccesstothedataandscienceresults.

Second averaged count rates in the Firestation detector, as well as four other panels showing geolocation of the ISS (L-value, latitude, longitude, and whether in the South Atlantic Anomaly).


FocusedInvestigationsofRelativisticElectron

Burst,Intensity,Range,andDynamics(FIREBIRD) Project Description

Themissionatargeted,goal-directed,spaceweatherCubesatmissiontoresolvethespatialscalesizeandenergydependenceofelectronmicroburstsintheVanAllenradiationbelts.Rel-ativisticelectronmicroburstsappearasshortdurationsofintenseelectronprecipitationmea-suredbyparticledetectorsonlowaltitudespacecraft,seenwhentheirorbitscrossmagneticfieldlineswhichthreadtheouterradiationbelt.Previousspacecraftmissions(e.g.,SAMPEX)havequantifiedimportantaspectsofmicroburstproperties(e.g.,occurrenceprobabilities),however,somecrucialproperties(i.e.,spatialscale)remainelusiveowingtothespace-timeambiguityinherenttosinglespacecraftmissions.Whilemicroburstsarethoughttobeasignif-icantlossmechanismforrelativisticelectrons,theyremainpoorlyunderstood,thusrenderingspaceweathermodelsofEarth’sradiationbeltsincomplete. Planned Scientific Accomplishments

FIREBIRD’suniquetwo-point,focusedobservationsatlowaltitudes,thatfullyexploitthecapabilitiesoftheCubesatplatform,willanswerthreefun-damentalscientificquestionswithspaceweatherimplications:

•Whatisthespatialscalesizeofanindividualmicroburst?

•Whatistheenergydependenceofanindividualmicroburst?

•Howmuchtotalelectronlossfromtheradiationbeltsdomicroburstsproduceglobally?

See https://ssel.montana.edu/firbird-cubesat-constellation-in-production/.

Planned Technology

Firebird2continuestobeimproved.LessonslearnedfromFirebird1willbeincorporatedintoFirebird2andsharedwithotherteamsthroughthemonthlyNSFPrincipalInvestigator(PI)teleconferences.

Planned Publications

SpaceWeatherJournal,AGU,“SpaceWeatherandScienceMotivationsoftheFocusedInves-tigationsofRelativisticElectronBurstIntensity,Range,andDynamics(FIREBIRD)NSFCubeSatMission.”

FIREBIRD Logo.


THE F

UTUR

E Theamazingresultsthathavebeenachievedoverthefirstfiveyearsoftheprogrampointtowardsanexcitingandprolificfuture.Recently,the2012SolarandSpacePhysicsDecadalSurveyfromtheNationalResearchCouncilincludedastrongrecommendationtargetingthedevelopmentofverysmallsatelliteflightopportu-nitiesasakeygrowthareaforbothNASAandNSF.Ourplansfor2014alreadyincludeanumberofspecificactivitiesthatwillfurtherpushtheboundariesforCubeSattechnology,andfortheprogram.

Twonewprojectshavejustbeenstartedthateachrepresentsanotherfirstintheprogram:thefirst6UCubeSat(theLAICEmis-sion),whichisalsothefirstprojectcarryinganimaginginstrument,andthefirsthyper-spectralimagingproject(theOPALmission).ThecomingyearwillalsoseethestartoftheQBUSproject,theobjectiveofwhichistoprovidefourCubeSatstotheEuropean-ledQB50project.Aimingtolaunchapproximately40CubeSatscarryingsetsofidenticalscientificinstrumentsamaingoaloftheprojectistoinvestigatethelowerthermosphere,alargelyunex-ploredregionoftheEarth’satmospherebetween90and320km.ThisconstitutesthefirstNSFparticipationinamajorCubeSatconstellationmission.

Moregenerally,evidencefromtheprogramsofarstronglysug-geststhatthefutureofscientificCubeSatprojectsisonlylimitedbytheimagination.Crucialmea-surementsfromspaceareneed-ednotonlytoaddressmanyun-solvedscienceproblemsbutalsotosolvecriticalsocietalprob-lems,suchasclimatechange;landuseandresourceman-agement;pollutionanddisastermonitoring;communication;andspaceweather.ExploringandcreatingnewandexpandedpossibilitiesforCubeSatstopro-videtheseremainsamaingoaloftheprogram.

ThecapabilitiesofCubeSatsystemsaregrowingatanever-increasingrateastech-nologicaladvancesaremade.Opportunitiesaremanytoacceleratethistechnologythroughengineeringresearchinanarrayoffields,includingmaterialsresearch,3-Dprinting,sensorminiaturization,micro-electro-mechanicalsystems,systemsengineering,radioscience,communi-cationalgorithms,andnetworks.PrivatefirmsandothergovernmentagenciesarealsostartingtoadopttheCubeSatconceptasalow-costwayofflyingpayloadsinspacewhilecreatingimportanteducationalopportunitiesforfutureleadersofindustry.

CubeSat investigating At-mopsheric Density Response to Extreme driving (CADRE).

Firefly CubeSat in Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD) on Vibration Table at NASA GSFC WFF.


Thisoffersnewandexpandedopportunitiesforpartnershipsandcollaborations.Specifically,avarietyofadditionalCubeSat-basedinitiativesarecurrentlyemergingalsoattheDODandNASA.UniquetotheNSFprogram,however,isthefocusonpursuingscientificdiscoverywhilealsoprovidingvisionaryandinspiringtrainingandeducationopportunitiesandtargetingmainlytheacademiccommunity.Consequently,theprogramwillcontinuetoplayakeyroleintheoverallnationalsmallsatelliteagendainthefuture.

Cubesatprojectsstimulatewidespreadexcitementandinvolveauniquesetofskillsandinter-ests.Therefore,theyappealtoabroaderrangeofparticipantsthanmoretraditionalscienceandengineeringprojects.ThismakesthemaperfecttoolforaddressingwidespreaddiversityandbroadeningparticipationgoalsinScienceTechnologyEngineeringMath(STEM)researchandeducation.

NSF is pioneering exciting CubeSat-based science missions for Geospace and atmospheric research

October 2013NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) CUBESAT-BASED SCIENCE MISSIONS FOR GEOSPACE AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

annual report

NP-2013-12-097-GSFC

nsf cubesat report

Documents