Collaborative Research: CubeSat: Focused Investigations of Relativistic Electron Burst Intensity, Range, and Dynamics (FIREBIRD)

合作研究：CubeSat：相对论电子爆发强度、范围和动力学的集中研究（FIREBIRD）

• 批准号: 1035642
• 负责人: Harlan Spence
• 金额: $ 28.84万
• 依托单位: University of New Hampshire
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-03-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1035642&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; CubeSat; Focused; Investigations

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project is a collaboration between space scientists and engineers at Boston University and Montana State University. The objective of this three-year cross-disciplinary team effort is to build and operate a set of tiny, so-called CubeSat, spacecraft. Each satellite will carry a single large-geometry-factor, solid-state detector, sensitive to electrons precipitating from the radiation belts. The FIREBIRD mission (Focused Investigations of Relativistic Electron Burst Intensity, Range, and Dynamics) is a targeted, goal-directed, space weather CubeSat mission to resolve the spatial scale size and energy dependence of electron microbursts in the Van Allen radiation belts. Relativistic electron microbursts appear as short durations of intense electron precipitation measured by particle detectors on low altitude spacecraft, seen when their orbits cross magnetic field lines which thread the outer radiation belt. While microbursts are thought to be a significant loss mechanism for relativistic electrons, they remain poorly understood, thus rendering space weather models of Earth?s radiation belts incomplete. FIREBIRD?s unique two-point, focused observations at low altitudes, that fully exploit the capabilities of the CubeSat platform, will answer three fundamental scientific questions with space weather implications: What is the spatial scale size of an individual microburst?; What is the energy dependence of an individual microburst?; and How much total electron loss from the radiation belts do microbursts produce globally? In addition to addressing fundamental space physics research and space weather applications, the FIREBIRD investigation also contributes to the training and education of a diverse population of university students in all phases of the project. Students will have major responsibility for the design and implementation of the instruments and the spacecraft while at the same time being mentored by professionals in each expert area. The impact is that the fruits of this investigation will continue strongly for years, if not decades, as the twenty or more students who ?cut their teeth? on this science mission become practicing scientists and engineers. The new, largely unproven technology involved in cubesat missions, inherently makes the project associated with significant risks. On the other hand, however, the project has tremendous potential to be transformational not only within its own research area but also for the larger field of space science and atmospheric research as well as within aerospace engineering and education. In addition, the project will be one of the first two to carry out a multi-spacecraft CubeSat mission, thus pushing the limit of this emerging technology.

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。该项目是波士顿大学和蒙大拿州立大学的太空科学家与工程师之间的合作。 这项为期三年的跨学科团队努力的目的是建造和运营一套小型的立方体，航天器。每个卫星将携带一个大几何因素，固态检测器，对从辐射带沉淀的电子敏感。 火鸟任务（对相对论电子爆发强度，范围和动态的重点研究）是一个针对性的，目标定向的，空间天气立方体，以解决范艾伦辐射带中电子微肉变的空间尺度大小和能量依赖性。相对论电子微果看起来像是在低海拔航天器上通过粒子探测器测量的较短的强烈电子沉淀的持续时间，当它们的轨道横穿螺纹外辐射带的轨道交叉磁场线时，就会看到。虽然微库被认为是相对论电子的重要损失机制，但它们的理解仍然不足，从而使地球辐射带的空间天气模型不完整。 Firebird的独特两点，集中在低海拔的观察结果，完全利用了立方体平台的能力，将回答三个具有太空天气影响的基本科学问题：单个微生物的空间尺度大小是多少？单个微库的能量依赖性是什么？以及微库在全球产生多少总电子损失？除了解决基本的太空物理研究和太空天气应用外，火鸟的调查还为项目的各个阶段的大学生培训和教育。学生将对乐器和航天器的设计和实施负责，同时由每个专家领域的专业人员指导。影响的是，这项调查的果实将持续数年（即使不是几十年），因为二十多岁的学生砍了牙？在这个科学任务上，成为执业科学家和工程师。新的，在很大程度上未经证实的技术参与了立方体任务，本质上使该项目与重大风险相关。但是，另一方面，该项目具有巨大的潜力，不仅可以在其自己的研究领域内，而且在更大的太空科学和大气研究领域以及航空航天工程和教育领域。此外，该项目将是执行多飞船立方体任务的前两个项目之一，从而推动了这种新兴技术的限制。