NASA's first CubeSat has been completed | PakistanTwitterTrends

 NASA's first CubeSat has been completed

As part of NASA's project to study space weather, the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) has completed the first of a constellation of CubeSats.

A briefing on Aug. 8 between SDL and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory revealed the first CubeSat for the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, or SunRISE, which NASA selected to develop in 2020 as an Explorer program. It will cost $62.6 million.

Throughout the next several months, SDL plans to build six CubeSats with X-shaped radio antennas, which will help scientists pinpoint radio bursts on the sun and map magnetic field lines. In this way, scientists can link radio bursts to activity like coronal mass ejections, which can cause solar storms.

As a single radio antenna, the six satellites will fly together with a baseline of 10 kilometers. The satellites will operate independently, collecting and returning data to the ground every week, where the data will be combined into one observation of the sun.

Jim Lux, SunRISE project manager at JPL, says this is the first time six spacecraft will serve as one instrument.

In order for the interferometry method to work, each satellite must know where it is at the time of making observations. Using satellite GPS receivers, this information can be gathered at a high enough precision to allow the data from each satellite to be merged without pinpointing the satellites' locations.

"They don't need to be controlled very precisely," Lux replied. We should just nudge them every now and then to keep them in the right general direction." In addition, the satellites will be able to detect radio waves with wavelengths of tens of meters.

According to Tim Neilsen, program manager for SunRISE at SDL, the first satellite served as a pathfinder for other satellites. There have been a number of environmental and functional tests conducted on the satellite, but only minor adjustments have been made.

All five satellites will now be assembled, integrated, and tested by SDL. All six satellites should be launched in April 2023.

According to Lux, the project is still working on launch arrangements for the satellites, which are slated for launch in mid-2024. Since we didn't buy our own ride, that could always change, he explained, instead relying on a ridesharing company.

Located about 300 kilometers above geostationary orbit, the spacecraft will operate in a region known as the "graveyard," where satellites are retired from GEO. Therefore, when it comes time to deorbit, we won't need to do anything special. It will take about a year for SunRISE to operate.

According to him, there is no pressure to launch by a particular date. Tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that, the sun will be there. The purpose of this mission is to observe the sun.