CubeSats / Small Sats 1 - Space@Hopkins · CubeSats/Small Sats 1 • Space@Hopkins/CAS Small...

CubeSats / Small Sats 11. General overview, resources

2. RAVAN CubeSat mission vignette

William H. Swartz, PhD

Space Exploration Sector/Geospace and Earth Science Group

JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory

June 10, 2019

CubeSats/Small Sats 1 • Space@Hopkins/CAS Small Missions Workshop • JHU • [email protected] 2

What is a CubeSat? They are apparently impossible to define

Ex

am

ple

s

LANDSAT-8 TACSAT-2 PROBA-V O/OREOS

“CubeSats”

Classically based on

10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm “Unit” (U)

1U CubeSat

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016),

Achieving Science with CubeSats: Thinking Inside the Box, Washington, DC:

The National Academies Press, doi:10.17226/23503.

June 10, 2019

A couple excellent overviews

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CompletedProjects/SSB_160539 COSPAR Small Satellite in preparation

June 10, 2019CubeSats/Small Sats 1 • Space@Hopkins/CAS Small Missions Workshop • JHU • [email protected] 3

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CompletedProjects/SSB_160539

NASA general resources

https://www.nasa.gov/content/cubesat-launch-initiative-resourceshttps://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_csli_cubesat_101_508.pdf


https://www.nasa.gov/content/cubesat-launch-initiative-resources

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_csli_cubesat_101_508.pdf

NASA (Ames) technology state-of-the-art report


https://sst-soa.arc.nasa.gov/ 1

https://sst-soa.arc.nasa.gov/

NASA CubeSat technology demonstrations


NASA Earth Science Technology Officehttps://esto.nasa.gov/index.html

https://esto.nasa.gov/index.html

NSF geospace science missions


https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503172

https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503172

Several good databases available

• https://sites.google.com/a/slu.edu/swartwout/

• https://space.skyrocket.de

• https://www.nanosats.eu

- “World's largest database of nanosatellites. Over 2300 nanosats and CubeSats. CubeSat constellations,

companies, technologies, missions and more.”


https://www.nanosats.eu/



RAVAN science motivation: Earth energy imbalance

CubeSats/Small Sats 1 • Space@Hopkins/CAS Small Missions Workshop • JHU • [email protected]

[Trenberth et al., 2009]

Incident

solar

shortwave

341 W/m2

Reflected

solar

shortwave

~102 W/m2

Emitted

terrestrial

longwave

~239 W/m2

June 10, 2019 11

Imbalance

<1 W/m2

Outgoing energy (radiation) highly variable, geographically and temporally


Shortwave flux Longwave flux

Current space-based assets cannot quantify Earth’s outgoing radiation well enough to resolve the

Earth energy imbalance from space (~1% accuracy...0.1% needed).

June 10, 2019 12

RAVAN is an Earth energy budget constellation pathfinder

• RAVAN: Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes

• CubeSat project funded through NASA ESTO’s InVEST program ($3.6M grant)

• Principally a technology demonstration

• CubeSat = High-risk

• Led by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Maryland, USA

• Partners:- L-1 Standards and Technology (L-1): Steven Lorentz (also NISTAR)

- Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT)

• Pathfinder for an Earth energy (radiation) budget constellation

• Combines- Vertically aligned carbon nanotube radiometer absorber and black body emitter (APL)

- Gallium fixed-point black body calibration source (L-1)

- Compact, low-cost radiometer payload (L-1/APL)

- 3U CubeSat bus, I&T, operations (BCT)


Cavity

radiometersVACNT

radiometers

Gallium

source

Gallium

source

Doors

VACNT absorber

Payload

RAVAN

RAVAN CubeSat “small” mission participants• APL: Dewey Adams, Charles Anderson, Clint Apland, David Athman, Kimberly Bahr, Lance Baird, Kevin Balon, Lance Barley,

Matthew Baughman, Debbie Berg, John Boldt, David Bonner, Gregory Bourn, Linda Bowles, Christopher Britt, Valerie Brockman, David Brownlie, Keith Bulkin, James Burgum, Richard Campbell, Carl Clayton, Christine Cook, Joseph Cook, David Copeland, Tina Craig, Misty Crawford, Alex Cruz, Jennifer Davis, David Deglau, Wayne Dellinger, Michael Desmarais, Anne Dietrich, Lars Dyrud, David Do, Robert Dobyns, Christian Drabenstadt, Peter Eisenreich, Lou Eline, Gregory Ellers, Howard Feldmesser, Terry Finney, Robert Focht, Johnny Fogle, John Folkerts, Malcolm Ford, Ryan Forrest, Robert Gaither, Michael Gardner, Donald Geyer, William Granger, Alan Grasley, Kimberly Griffin, Nymia Griffith, Steven Griffiths, Felicia Hastings, John Hayes, Kevin Heffernan, Mark Herring, Valerie Horky, Carolyn Hoskins, Philip Huang, Terry Huber, Stephen Izon, Walter Johnston, Matiwos Kafel, Lake Kee, Allen Keeney, Jaclyn Kilheffer, Jinho Kim, Henry Koenig, Haje Korth, Brittany Krok, Matthew Krok, Cidambi Kumar, Denise LaFluer, Wing Lam, David Lee, Sung Lee-Seck, Deborah Leopold, Shawn Liang, Sharon Ling, Timothy Lippy, Tara Lofton, William Luedeman, David Malick, Kathryn Marcotte, Michael Marley, Jacqueline Mattern, Douglas McKay, Ryan McMichael, Lauren Mehr, Jeffrey Metcalfe, Glenn Meyers, Robert Miller, Sharon Mills-Young, Elizabeth Mitchell, Cavin Mooers, Erica Morton, Hadi Navid, Kenneth Nelson, Matthew Noble, Marlene Nourbakhsh, Nicholas Nowicki, Miranda Oltman, Gary Palm, Stergios Papadakis, David Persons, Richard Pfisterer, Donna Pierce, Kevin Pionke, David Plank, Jonathan Prietz, Yatta Quire, Joseph Rahnis, Jane Ramsburg, Neal Reek, Nolan Reilly, Sonia Reilly, Kenneth Reinhardt, Matthew Reinhart, Edward Reynolds, Scott Robbins, David Roth, Rosemary Rubin, Robert Rye, Erika Sanchez, Andrew Santo, Cecil Santos, Anthony Scarpati, Charles Schlemm, Jean Schutt, Kevin Sibley, Fazle Siddique, David Sizemore, Raymond Smith, Ruthe Snyder, Sharon Stamer, Rhonda Strianese, Anthony Stump, Robert Summers, William Swartz, John Teehan, Jason Tiffany, Kenneth Turner, Zachary Ulbig, Rachel Verrill, James Walraven, Mary Washington, Andrew Webb, David Weir, Paul Weisman, Ed Wells, Paul Wescoat, Richard White, James Wiley, Curtis Wilkerson, Wendy Wyatt, Matthew Yeager, Joseph Yurek

• L-1 Standards and Technology: James Briscoe, Steven Lorentz, Allan Smith, Yinan Yu

• Blue Canyon Technologies: John Carvo, Tom Golden, and others

• NASA/GSFC: Warren Wiscombe, Dong Wu

As of Oct 2017


Compact payload hosts two technologies


September 29, 2011 J10-7 NNH11ZDA012O

Use or disclosure of the data on this page is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this proposal.

trolled heat sink and cavities. The ERIS mission

does not have the space, mass or power that was

available to NISTAR; therefore, the ERIS de-

tector design includes, in addition to the out-

ward looking cavity, a reference cavity viewing

the inside of the instrument. The temperature

sensors of the two cavities are connected in op-

posing arms of a resistive bridge which will

compensate for signal noise produced by the

thermal characteristics of the instrument hous-

ing. Most prior Earth radiation budget (ERB)

instruments and all of the total solar irradiance

instruments have employed this type of refer-

ence cavity design (or reference thermistor flake

design) with a resistive bridge to remove com-

mon mode thermal changes.

Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube De-sign Heritage. The Sensor Science Nano/Micro

Systems group lead by Dr. Stergios Papadakis

in the Milton Eisenhower Research Center at

APL, has a history of providing vertically

aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) forests for a

variety of terrestrial and space-based instrument

applications [Papadakis et al., 2002; Papadakis

et al., 2003]. Currently, these forests are being

applied to internally funded stray light control

applications in infrared (IR) instrumentation as

well as two NASA ROSES projects, one to de-

velop photon blocking applications for solid-

state energetic particle detectors and another to

develop field-emission-based harsh-environ-

ment electronics. Terrestrial applications are

also ongoing to develop an IR scene projector in

collaboration with APL’s Air and Missile De-

fense Department, and a field-emission-based

terahertz source supported by the Office of Na-

val Research. APL can produce a large run of

the ERIS-specified absorbers in a matter of

weeks.

Although most institutions, including APL,

have no direct heritage with space qualified and

flown VACNT technology it has been shown

that these absorbers demonstrate extremely flat

response across a wide wavelength range [Mi-

zuno et al., 2009] and have a number of favora-

ble material properties. Currently, Nanocomp,

Inc., has operational nanotube technology on

Juno (launched 5 August 2011), a classified

DoD cubesat program (2011), and the Interna-

tional Space Station Materials International

Space Station Experiment (MISSE) 8 (launched

May 2011). APL currently has TRL-3 vertically

aligned carbon nanotube technology that will be

elevated to higher TRL under a trade study and

space qualification activities during Phase A

trade study (Fig. F-10).

Modification for ERIS Mission. As dis-

cussed in section F.3.1, APL plans to mount the

vertically aligned carbon nanotube absorbers

for the form factor of ERIS and conduct per-

formance and environmental tests to raise the

nanotube absorbers to TRL-6 by PDR. While

the heritage cavity design derived from the

Figure J10-8. An APL technician moves a fresh batch of vertically aligned carbon nanotube forests from one of the Laboratory’s tube furnaces. Currently these forests can be grown in one day or less.

Figure J10-9. Growth from rectangular-patterned catalyst region of VACNT substrate.

10

0 μ

m

Radiometer head assembly

Technology 1: Carbon nanotube radiometer absorber

Technology 2: Gallium phase-change black body cells

Te

mp

era

ture

(arb

itra

ry u

nits)

Payload door assembly

Cavity

radiometers

VACNT

radiometers

Gallium

source

Gallium

source

Doors

June 10, 2019

Carbon nanotube “forest”

Ga solid–liquid phase transition

Cavity

SW

Cavity

Total

VACNT

Total

VACNT

SW

15

Launched Nov 2016; payload operated until Aug 2018


Credit: United Launch Alliance,

Lockheed Martin

RAVAN (~575 km)

130° FoV

Launch 11/11/16

RAVAN 3U CubeSat

Blue Canyon Technologies bus

June 10, 2019

(dark space)

16

RAVAN is a small mission


MSX, 1996

RAVAN, 2016

June 10, 2019 17

RAVAN timeline

• Nov-12 RAVAN proposal submitted

• Apr-13 RAVAN selected

• Nov-13 CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) proposal submitted

• Feb-14 RAVAN selected for CSLI launch (TBD)

• Dec-14 Decision on bus (BCT selected)

• Feb-16 RAVAN becomes “back-up” on commercial launch

• May-16 RAVAN is officially manifested for launch

• Jun-16 Payload delivered to BCT for I&T

• Aug-16 RAVAN delivered to Cal Poly for LV integration

• Nov-16 Launch

• Jan-17 First Light

• Aug-18 End of mission


RAVAN waited for

launch opportunity

for two years.

RAVAN

June 10, 2019 18

RAVAN grant devilerables

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/7/796

June 10, 2019CubeSats/Small Sats 1 • Space@Hopkins/CAS Small Missions Workshop • JHU • [email protected]

NASA Final Report, Oct 2018 Mission Paper, Apr 2019

19

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/7/796

RAVAN successful technology demonstration

• Technology demonstration successful

- Four radiometers worked well

- One (of two) gallium black bodies failed; the second performed throughout mission

- RAVAN serves as a benchmark for future ERB science missions that use RAVAN technologies and/or

smaller spacecraft

• Uncovered challenges for a future mission to overcome

- Good long-term stability, but short-term fluctuations problematic (for 0.1% climate-level observations),

most likely due to inadequate thermal knowledge and control


CERES LW

RAVAN technology status

June 10, 2019CubeSats/Small Sats 1 • Space@Hopkins/CAS Small Missions Workshop • JHU • [email protected]

VACNT low-TRL development

(2003–2012)

APL IRAD (CS, AMDS); NASA

VACNT, Ga BB demonstration

RAVAN (2016)

NASA ESTO

VACNT bolometer/

BCT 6U bus

LASP CSIM (2018)

NASA ESTO

VACNT bolometer/

BCT 6U bus

LASP CTIM (2020)

NASA ESTO

Ga BB

LaRC/APL Trutinor next-gen “CERES”

LaRC IRAD, NASA ESTO proposal

21

Lessons learned and other observations

• Small missions can be agile but rely on a relatively shallow bench

• Small missions have higher tolerance for risk. Does your institution?

• Small missions are “just like” large missions, but they can’t be run that way

- Defined reviews

- Risk tracking and management

- Policies and procedures developed for larger missions need to be tailored for small mission resources and

level of risk


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