Collaborative Research: CubeSat Ideas Lab: Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment (SWARM-EX) CubeSats

立方体卫星是一种小型化、低重量、低成本的卫星。由于这些特性，由10颗-100颗立方体卫星组成的星座和专门用于研究空间环境的仪器为了解和预测空间天气提供了一个新的令人兴奋的机会。空间气象大气可重构多尺度实验项目在设计和建造空间气象立方体卫星星座方面迈出了重要的一步。星群EX将由三颗相同的立方体卫星组成，这些立方体卫星采用了新技术，用于卫星之间的无线电通信、机载推进、先进的数据下行链路和星座内的自主操作。每颗卫星都将测量地球上层大气中的电离气体和中性气体，研究赤道附近的结构。群体前任务独特地促进了STEM教育的机会，并为公众宣传提供了一个平台。Sarm-EX将建立首个校际CubeSat指导计划--与那些建立了CubeSat计划的机构合作，通过新计划在全国范围内创造长期的、基于项目的学习环境。教学、培训和学习也将通过包括来自六个地理分布的大学项目的多名研究生和本科生来推进，这些项目参与了SWARM-EX。这个项目是由立方卫星创新中的IDEAS实验室：交叉倡议产生的，这是一个由地球科学、工程、计算机和信息科学与工程总监支持的跨学科计划。SWARM-EX是解决悬而未决的空气学问题的大胆一步，通过全球立方卫星群在300至600公里高度进行现场电离层和热层测量而实现。每个群中的立方体卫星的间隔范围从1公里到1000公里，这种间隔将由差动阻力和机载推进相结合来控制。在该项目的支持下，探路者任务将使用3颗相同的立方体卫星来演示群EX关键技术，并解决与赤道电离异常(EIA)和赤道热层异常(ETA)演化有关的科学问题。具体的空气动力学问题是：1)在EIA和ETA特征中，等离子体密度和中性氧的持久性和相关性如何？2)在什么时间尺度上，少于90分钟，我们观察到由于非迁徙潮汐和地磁活动而引起的EIA/ETA性质的变化？这些立方体卫星将展示新技术，包括射频交叉链路、推进、CDMAX波段数据下行链路和星载自主性。此外，每颗立方体卫星将包括一个原子氧传感器和朗缪尔探测器，从而进行回答拟议的科学问题所需的测量。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

CubeSats are miniaturized, low-weight, low-cost satellites. Due to these properties, constellations of 10s-100s of CubeSats with specialized instruments for studying the space environment provide a new exciting opportunity to understand and predict space weather. The Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment (SWARM-EX) project provides an important step in the advancement of designing and building CubeSat constellations for space weather. SWARM-EX will consist of three identical CubeSats with novel technologies for radio communications between satellites, onboard propulsion, advanced data downlinks, and autonomous operations within the constellation. Each satellite will measure ionized and neutral gases in the Earth's upper atmosphere, studying structures seen near the equator. The SWARM-EX mission uniquely fosters opportunities for STEM education and enables a platform for public outreach. SWARM-EX will establish the first Intercollegiate CubeSat Mentoring Program - partnering institutions that have established CubeSat programs with new programs to create long-term, project-based learning environments across the nation. Teaching, training, and learning will also be advanced through the inclusion of multiple graduate students, and undergraduate students from the six geographically distributed university programs involved in SWARM-EX. This project resulted from the Ideas Lab: Cross-cutting Initiative in CubeSat Innovations, an interdisciplinary program supported by Geosciences, Engineering, and Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorates.SWARM-EX is a bold step towards addressing outstanding aeronomy questions achieved through a global constellation of CubeSat swarms making in-situ ionospheric and thermospheric measurements between 300 and 600 km altitude. The CubeSats in each swarm will range in separation from 1 to 1000 km and this separation will be controlled by a combination of differential drag and onboard propulsion. A pathfinder mission, supported by this project will use 3 identical CubeSats to demonstrate the SWARM-EX key technologies and address scientific questions related to the evolution of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) and equatorial thermospheric anomaly (ETA). The specific aeronomy questions are 1) How persistent and correlated are the plasma density and neutral oxygen in EIA and ETA features?; 2) Over what timescales, less than 90 minutes, do we observe changes in EIA/ETA properties due to non-migrating tides and geomagnetic activity? These CubeSats will demonstrate novel technology including RF cross-links, propulsion, CDMA X-band data downlinks and on-board autonomy. Additionally, each CubeSat will include an atomic oxygen sensor and Langmuir Probe thus making the measurements required to answer the proposed science questions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.