Dipping Thermospheric Explorer CubeSat
Abstract
The goal of the Dipping Thermospheric Explorer (DipTE) mission is to provide a data set that can be used to characterize the impact of gravity waves (GWs) on the thermosphere, and to open the door to many future thermospheric missions. The momentum deposited by dissipation of GWs which originate in the lower atmosphere and in the auroral region drives thermospheric variability, and hence is a key parameter in space weather research. The DipTE satellite, proposed for the NSF “CubeSat-based Science Missions for Space Weather and Atmospheric Research,” solicitation 09-523, is a 3U(0.34 x 0.1 x 0.1 m)CubeSat, with a spectrometer payload. The satellite employs a propulsion system to maneuver from the initial circular release orbit into an elliptic orbit that passes through the thermosphere, and uses passive aerodynamic stabilization. The spectrometer will measure perturbations in the neutral wind and temperature, in the ion velocity and temperature, and in the densities of the primary neutral and ionic species as the orbit decays down to the lowest altitude of radio contact (≈150 km). The resulting data set will have many applications to thermospheric and ionospheric science: for example, characterization of the GW spectrumas a function of altitude, latitude, longitude, and local time; study of GW sources by ray-tracing individual waves back to their sources; and determining the spatial variability in the neutral winds. The presentation describes the science objectives, the mission and the concept of operations, and the spacecraft configuration and its subsystems.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2009
- Bibcode:
- 2009AGUFMSM33C1582U
- Keywords:
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- 0358 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE / Thermosphere: energy deposition