Lunar magnetic field measurements with a cubesat
Name
Lozano_Lunar magnetic field.pdf
Size
1.76 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Garrick-Bethell, Ian
Lin, Robert P.
Sanchez, Hugo
Jaroux, Belgacem A.
Bester, Manfred
Brown, Patrick
Cosgrove, Daniel
Dougherty, Michele K.
Halekas, Jasper S.
Hemingway, Doug
Date Issued
May 2013
Journal
Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering
Publisher
SPIE
Citation
Garrick-Bethell, Ian, Robert P. Lin, Hugo Sanchez, Belgacem A. Jaroux, Manfred Bester, Patrick Brown, Daniel Cosgrove, et al. “Lunar magnetic field measurements with a cubesat.” In Sensors and Systems for Space Applications VI, edited by Khanh D. Pham, Joseph L. Cox, Richard T. Howard, and Genshe Chen, 873903-873903-26. SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering, 2013. © 2013 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
We have developed a mission concept that uses 3-unit cubesats to perform new measurements of lunar magnetic fields, less than 100 meters above the Moon’s surface. The mission calls for sending the cubesats on impact trajectories to strongly magnetic regions on the surface, and transmitting measurements in real-time to a nearby spacecraft, or directly to the Earth, up until milliseconds before impact. The cubesats and their instruments are partly based on the NSF-funded CINEMA cubesat now in Earth orbit. Two methods of reaching the Moon as a secondary payload are discussed: 1) After launching into geostationary transfer orbit with a communication satellite, a small mother-ship travels into lunar orbit and releases the cubesats on impact trajectories, and 2) The cubesats travel to the Moon using their own propulsion after release into geosynchronous orbit. This latter version would also enable other near-Earth missions, such as constellations for studying magnetospheric processes, and observations of close-approaching asteroids.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2015666
