Naval Postgraduate School Support for Firefly Cubesat Science Mission

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This is a transfer of funds to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for the production of a flight unit CubeSat Launcher (NPSCuL-Lite) and associated activities, as part of the AS&T Development and Maturation Satellite (ADaMSat) sponsored by the National Reconnaissance Office. The first flight of ADaMSat is currently scheduled for August 2010 as part of the NROL-41 launch. NPSCuL-Lite is required in support of the launch of Firefly, a NSF CubeSat project, on ADaMSat. The NSF sponsored nano-satellite is a "triple (3U) cubesat" that will utilize the Poly-Picosat Orbital Deployer (P-POD) system. The purpose of the Firefly mission is an atmospheric science experiment aimed at investigating Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes. The deliverables from this effort include one NPSCuL flight unit structure and one engineering development unit for use by the launch provider, one ADaMSat mass model for use in case ADaMSAT is unavailable to fly, ADaMSat loaded P-POD mass models in case any particular payload is unavailable to fly, and all requisite documentation. NPS will also support the Integrating Contractor with ADaMSat integration activities, specifically integration of ADaMSat payloads, including the NFS Firefly P-POD, onto the NPSCuL structure. Several graduate students at NPS will be involved with this project.