The CuPID Cubesat Observatory: Imaging Soft X-rays from the Magnetosheath

The CuPID Cubesat Observatory will image soft X-rays emitted from the cusp with the goal of separating proposed modes of magnetopause reconnection. Through these measurements, the mission will identify drivers that most likely generate bursty versus continuous reconnection and localized patches versus widespread X-lines. The highly inclined, low Earth orbiting, 6U cubesat will make soft X-ray measurements with a wide field-of-view (5°x5°) imager, utilizing lobster-eye optics. A pair of dosimeters on the spacecraft will monitor energetic (E>40keV) ions and electrons to quantify particle backgrounds. In addition to targeting magnetic reconnection, when launched in 2019, the NASA sponsored mission will generate the first all-sky map of the magnetosphere in soft X-rays.