CubeSat: Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (DICE)

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目是犹他州州立大学、ASTRA有限责任公司、安布里-里德尔大学和克莱姆森大学的空间科学家和工程师之间的合作项目。 这个为期三年的跨学科团队的目标是建造和运行一套小型的所谓立方体卫星航天器。每颗卫星将携带一个直流探测器（DCP）来测量现场电离层等离子体密度，以及一个电场探测器（EFP）来测量直流和交流电场。这些测量将允许准确识别电离层等离子体分布中的风暴时间特征，例如风暴增强密度（SED）凸起和羽流，以及以前缺失的同步同位电场测量。动态电离层立方体卫星实验（DICE）使命的主要科学目标是了解美国南部上空的等离子体是如何形成的（SED凸起）和等离子体的来源是什么; SED羽流的形成和演变涉及哪些物理驱动因素，它们的相对重要性是什么;最后，什么是穿透电场的发生，阿普尔顿异常峰的后续扩展，和SED的发展，特别是在为什么有一个明显的偏好，美国的地理部门之间的确切关系。空间气象是指可能影响天基和地基技术系统性能和可靠性的空间条件。赤道、极光和中纬度的电离层梯度和不规则性对导航、通信和监视系统产生重大的空间气象影响。为了提高我们预测这些空间气象事件及其影响的能力，需要更好地描述和了解这些电离层特征。DICE将提供重要的新的测量SED功能和洞察是什么原因使他们朝着实现这些目标。 该项目将追求科学发现，同时提供独特和鼓舞人心的教育机会。 它依赖于广泛的本科生和研究生参与使命的各个方面。学生参与拟议工作的每一个领域将为所有参与机构以及德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校（UTSA）（一个为少数民族服务的机构）提供教育利益。除了动手工作，使命将提供材料的类，将有助于激发学生对科学。 立方体卫星任务所涉及的新技术基本上未经证实，这本身就使该项目与重大风险联系在一起。然而，另一方面，该项目具有巨大的潜力，不仅在其自身的研究领域，而且在更大的空间科学和大气研究领域以及航空航天工程和教育领域都具有变革性。此外，该项目将是执行多航天器CubeSat使命的前两个项目之一，从而推动了这一新兴技术的极限。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project is a collaboration between space scientists and engineers at Utah State University, ASTRA LLC, Embry-Riddle University, and Clemson University. The objective of this three-year cross-disciplinary team effort is to build and operate a set of tiny, so-called CubeSat, spacecraft. Each satellite will carry a DC Probe (DCP) to measure in-situ ionospheric plasma densities, and an Electric Field Probe (EFP) to measure DC and AC electric fields. These measurements will permit accurate identification of storm-time features in the distribution of ionospheric plasma, such as the Storm Enhanced Density (SED) bulge and plume, together with simultaneous co-located electric field measurements which have previously been missing. The primary scientific objective of the Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (DICE) mission is to understand how exactly the greatly enhanced plasma is formed over the southern USA (the SED bulge) and what is the source of the plasma; what physical drivers are involved in the formation and evolution of the SED plume, and what is their relative importance; and, finally, what is the precise relationship between the occurrence of penetration electric fields, the subsequent expansion of the Appleton anomaly crests, and the development of SED, particularly in terms of why there is an apparent preference for the USA geographic sector. Space weather refers to conditions in space that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems. Ionospheric gradients and irregularities at equatorial, auroral, and mid latitudes produce major space weather effects on navigation, communications and surveillance systems. To advance our abilities to predict these space weather events and their effects these ionospheric features need to be better characterized and understood. DICE will provide important new measurements of SED features and insight into what causes them towards meeting these goals. The project will pursue scientific discovery while providing unique and inspiring educational opportunities. It relies on extensive undergraduate and graduate student involvement through all aspects of the mission. The involvement of students in every area of the proposed work will provide educational benefits at all of the participating institutions as well as at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a minority-serving institution. In addition to the hands-on work, the mission will provide material for classes that will serve to motivate students with regard to science. The new, largely unproven technology involved in cubesat missions, inherently makes the project associated with significant risks. On the other hand, however, the project has tremendous potential to be transformational not only within its own research area but also for the larger field of space science and atmospheric research as well as within aerospace engineering and education. In addition, the project will be one of the first two to carry out a multi-spacecraft CubeSat mission, thus pushing the limit of this emerging technology.