CAREER: Securing the Future of Electric Field Measurements in Space Physics

空间物理界在过去十年里一直在优化粒子和磁场仪器，以便在小型航天器或立方体卫星上运行。这使得使用经济高效的硬件对空间等离子体进行更高质量的测量成为可能。电场仪器还没有实现同样的最优化，这使得我们用具有成本效益的航天器观测空间环境的能力出现了差距。准确的电场测量对于理解空间等离子体过程是至关重要的，特别是在小尺度上。这一职业项目旨在缩小这一差距，并在优化电场仪器以在CubeSats上运行方面迈出重要的一步。这样做使我们能够迈向一个可以彻底观察和研究最基本的物理学的未来。教育目标是开发开源软件，允许学生访问和分析数据，并让学生参与硬件飞行准备测试。该奖项主要支持EPSCoR州西弗吉尼亚州的一名职业早期女教授。在这项研究中，PI将专门利用电场双探头仪器设计立方体卫星任务。它将观测极光加速区(AAR)的等离子体动力学，AAR是连接地球电离层和磁层的等离子区域。这项任务将解决以下科学问题：1)AAR中电场和磁场的垂直时空结构是什么？2)AAR中电子的垂直时空行为是什么？3)前两个问题在高度上是如何变化的？我们将为这次任务设计和使用必要的电场仪器来解决这些问题。该设计将是优化用于小卫星技术的电场仪器的第一步。这将使她能够追求未来许多机会，以具有成本效益的方式观察和研究空间物理，并在利用电场仪器的更高级别的飞行任务中提供专业知识。此外，这项研究将向代表性不足的学生展示空间科学方面的机会，并提供进入空间物理领域职业机会的可能途径。在这项研究中，西弗吉尼亚州的项目高中生将参加与立方体卫星设计相关的各种活动。这将包括分析观测数据、编码和为太空飞行准备立方体卫星硬件。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。

The space physics community has spent the last decade optimizing particle and magnetic field instruments to operate on small spacecraft or CubeSat. This enables more high-quality measurements of space plasma with cost-effective hardware. The same optimization of electric field instruments has not been achieved, leaving a gap in our ability to observe the space environment with cost-effective spacecraft. Accurate electric field measurements are crucial for understanding the space plasma processes, particularly at small scales. This CAREER project seeks to narrow this gap and take a vital step in optimizing electric field instrumentation to operate on CubeSats. Doing so allows us to step toward a future where the most fundamental physics can be thoroughly observed and studied. The educational objectives are to develop open-source software to allow students to access and analyze data, and engage students in hardware flight-readiness testing. This award mainly supports an early-career female professor in West Virginia, an EPSCoR state. In this study, the PI will design a CubeSat mission specifically utilizing electric field double probe instrumentation. It will observe plasma dynamics in the Auroral Acceleration Region (AAR), a plasma region that bridges the Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere. This mission will address the scientific questions: 1) What is the perpendicular spatial and temporal structure of the electric and magnetic field in the AAR? 2) What is the perpendicular spatial and temporal behavior of the electrons in the AAR? 3) How do the first two questions vary in altitude? We will design and utilize the electric field instrument necessary to address these questions for this mission. This design will be the first step in optimizing electric field instrumentation for small-sat technology. This will enable the pursuit of numerous future opportunities to observe and study space physics in cost-effective ways and offer her expertise in higher-class missions that utilize electric field instruments. Additionally, this study will expose opportunities in space science to underrepresented students and provide possible gateways to career opportunities in space physics. During this study, project high school students in West Virginia will participate in various activities related to the design of the CubeSat. This will include analyzing observational data, coding, and preparing CubeSat hardware for spaceflight.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.