Communications of the ACM
Students Building Satellite That's Seen as Future of Space Research
Students assemble the CubeSat every day, starting from scratch, to figure out how the pieces fit together.
Credit: Courtesy of Roibn hochaidh
University of California, Berkeley students and researchers are developing CubeSat for Ions, Neutrals, Electrons & MAgnetic fields (CINEMA), a small satellite that could be launched into space next June.
CINEMA is being designed to spend a year in orbit, using new miniature instruments to measure ions, electrons, and neutral particles, and a magnetometer to measure currents generated during electrical storms. "This is probably the most complicated CubeSat anyone has ever fabricated," says Berkeley researcher Thomas Immel.
CubeSat technology is based on miniaturization and standardization, and represents a breakthrough in affordable space science. CubeSats can be loaded in large groups onto rockets, and their open source design has enabled universities to use the CubeSat concept to teach students how to conduct research in space.
Berkeley professor Robert Lin says CINEMA "will provide cutting-edge magnetospheric science and critical space-weather measurements." CINEMA is one of eight CubeSats expected to ride on a U.S. National Reconnaissance Office rocket next June. "With the continued miniaturization of instruments, more cutting-edge science will become possible," Lin says.
From UC Berkeley News Center
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