Collaborative Research: CubeSat Ideas Lab: Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment (SWARM-EX) CubeSats

合作研究：CubeSat 创意实验室：空间天气大气可重构多尺度实验 (SWARM-EX) CubeSats

基本信息

批准号：
1936537
负责人：
Saeed Latif
金额：
$ 21.8万
依托单位：
University of South Alabama
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-01-01 至 2024-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1936537&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research CubeSat Ideas Lab

项目摘要

CubeSats are miniaturized, low-weight, low-cost satellites. Due to these properties, constellations of 10s-100s of CubeSats with specialized instruments for studying the space environment provide a new exciting opportunity to understand and predict space weather. The Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment (SWARM-EX) project provides an important step in the advancement of designing and building CubeSat constellations for space weather. SWARM-EX will consist of three identical CubeSats with novel technologies for radio communications between satellites, onboard propulsion, advanced data downlinks, and autonomous operations within the constellation. Each satellite will measure ionized and neutral gases in the Earth's upper atmosphere, studying structures seen near the equator. The SWARM-EX mission uniquely fosters opportunities for STEM education and enables a platform for public outreach. SWARM-EX will establish the first Intercollegiate CubeSat Mentoring Program - partnering institutions that have established CubeSat programs with new programs to create long-term, project-based learning environments across the nation. Teaching, training, and learning will also be advanced through the inclusion of multiple graduate students, and undergraduate students from the six geographically distributed university programs involved in SWARM-EX. This project resulted from the Ideas Lab: Cross-cutting Initiative in CubeSat Innovations, an interdisciplinary program supported by Geosciences, Engineering, and Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorates.SWARM-EX is a bold step towards addressing outstanding aeronomy questions achieved through a global constellation of CubeSat swarms making in-situ ionospheric and thermospheric measurements between 300 and 600 km altitude. The CubeSats in each swarm will range in separation from 1 to 1000 km and this separation will be controlled by a combination of differential drag and onboard propulsion. A pathfinder mission, supported by this project will use 3 identical CubeSats to demonstrate the SWARM-EX key technologies and address scientific questions related to the evolution of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) and equatorial thermospheric anomaly (ETA). The specific aeronomy questions are 1) How persistent and correlated are the plasma density and neutral oxygen in EIA and ETA features?; 2) Over what timescales, less than 90 minutes, do we observe changes in EIA/ETA properties due to non-migrating tides and geomagnetic activity? These CubeSats will demonstrate novel technology including RF cross-links, propulsion, CDMA X-band data downlinks and on-board autonomy. Additionally, each CubeSat will include an atomic oxygen sensor and Langmuir Probe thus making the measurements required to answer the proposed science questions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

立方体是小型，低体重，低成本的卫星。由于这些特性，带有专门研究空间环境的专业仪器的10s-100 s Cubesats星座为了解和预测空间天气提供了新的激动人心的机会。太空天气大气可重新配置的多尺度实验（Swarm-EX）项目在设计和建造Cubesat星座方面为太空天气提供了重要的一步。 Swarm-EX将由三个相同的立方体组成，这些新技术与卫星，板上推进，高级数据下行链路和星座内的自主操作之间的无线电通信组成。每个卫星将测量地球上层大气中的电离和中性气体，研究赤道附近看到的结构。 Swarm-Ex任务独特地为STEM教育提供了机会，并为公众推广提供了平台。 SWARM-EX将建立第一个大学间的CUBESAT指导计划 - 合作机构，这些机构已通过新计划建立了Cubesat计划，以在全国范围内创建长期，基于项目的学习环境。教学，培训和学习也将通过包括多个研究生以及来自六个地理分布的大学课程的本科生的本科生来推进。 This project resulted from the Ideas Lab: Cross-cutting Initiative in CubeSat Innovations, an interdisciplinary program supported by Geosciences, Engineering, and Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorates.SWARM-EX is a bold step towards addressing outstanding aeronomy questions achieved through a global constellation of CubeSat swarms making in-situ ionospheric and thermospheric measurements between 300 and 600 km altitude. 每个群中的立方体的分离范围为1至1000 km，这种分离将通过差分阻力和板上推进的组合来控制。该项目支持的探路者任务将使用3个相同的立方体来证明群的关键技术，并解决与赤道电离异常（EIA）和赤道热层异常（ETA）相关的科学问题。特定的空气问题是1）EIA和ETA特征中的血浆密度和中性氧的持久性和相关性是多么持久和相关性？ 2）在哪个时间尺度（少于90分钟）上，由于非迁移潮汐和地磁活动，我们是否观察到EIA/ETA性质的变化？这些立方体将展示新的技术，包括RF交联，推进，CDMA X波段数据下行链接和机上自治。此外，每个立方体都将包括一个原子氧传感器和Langmuir探测器，从而使回答拟议的科学问题所需的测量结果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准通过评估来进行评估的。