Artemis 1 CubeSats: Ready to Invade the Solar System!
OK, guys...
On September 3 there was another annoying postponement for the first Artemis mission,
but we're (almost) sure that by the time you're viewing this video, the Space Launch System
(SLS for short) rocket will have already taken the Orion capsule into space for its test
run around the Moon.
And not just the Orion!
The payload of Artemis I, in fact, is not only the technological innovations to be tested
on their debut...
On board the NASA rocket there will in fact also be ten Cubesats, small satellites comparable
in size to a toaster, which will perform technology and science demonstration activities in lunar
orbit, but not only.
We could call them all-purpose space drones, each with very limited tasks ... but at an
incredibly lower cost than the large and expensive probes that have made space exploration history
to date ... But what does this swarm of industrious bees
look like?
Let's take a closer look...shall we?
Although Cubesats are now an integral and established part of the New Space Economy,
it is only in recent years that their possible utility in the interplanetary domain has been
understood.
Cubesats are miniature satellites.
Typically they look like cubes with standardized measurements of 10 cm on a side; their weight
usually does not exceed that of one or two kilograms.
Their structure is modular so that a CubeSat can consist of a single cube, or several cubes
put together, generally up to a maximum of six.
Traditional satellites weigh 750 kg and up.
This is no small difference: CubeSats allow for low-cost access to space since launching
a probe into orbit currently costs $14,000 per kilogram...
This difference in tonnage, however, does not prevent CubeSats from doing almost the
same operations as their bigger brothers: they can take pictures, shoot video, and receive
and transmit data of all kinds.
By now, CubeSats are revolutionizing Earth and space observation.
Credit to advances in miniaturization of electronic components, from sensors to antennas.
The only handicap is autonomy: the average lifetime of a CubeSat is two years, compared
with five or more for traditional satellites.
The idea of granting space to a flotilla of micro-satellites with the launch of the first
Artemis mission was born in 2015 to provide access to lunar orbit for smaller universities
and space companies.
NASA initially intended to launch four more CubeSats beyond the current ones, however,
the three teams responsible for these projects were unable to meet the October 21, 2021 deadline.
In fact, on this date, the Orion was positioned above the second stage, making it physically
impossible to intervene in the rocket adapter to add more CubeSats.
This will also be a consideration for the satellites aboard the rocket.
Having been aboard the rocket for nearly a year, some of them have not been charged,
and there is a concern at NASA that they may not be functioning properly.
In particular, the main doubt is over the first maneuver the CubeSats will have to perform
individually: opening their solar panels.
They will allow the batteries to be charged, but this first operation will have to be done
with the charge remaining.
But where are they located and when will the CubeSats be released?
Artemis 1's 10 CubeSats currently have been aboard the Space Launch System
for almost a year and are integrated above the rocket's second stage.
To be precise, they are located inside the adapter that connects the second stage to
the Orion capsule.
The satellites, arranged circularly on the inner surface of the adapter, are individually
housed in special release mechanisms.
After the Orion detaches from the second stage, a very precise release sequence will begin
that will last just over five hours.
The first five CubeSats will be released simultaneously at 3:40 hours after the rocket's liftoff.
The remaining five will then follow, separated one at a time at more constant intervals.
The operation will conclude 8 hours and three minutes after SLS liftoff with the release
of the CuSP CubeSat.
Among the 10 CubeSats present, seven are made by U.S. companies or research organizations.
Two by the Japanese space agency JAXA, and one by the Italian space agency ASI.
Here are all of them below!
Team Miles, the Space "belongs to everyone" This CubeSat, composed of six cubes and weighing
14 kilograms, is a demonstration of the potential of so-called "citizen science," science done
by citizens; citizens who in this case managed to make it all the way to the Artemis launch
pad.
Team Miles, the winner of Nasa's CubeQuest Challenge, was in fact designed and developed
by a nonprofit group of fifteen citizen scientists and engineers based in Tampa, Florida.
The primary goal is to test innovative plasma and iodine thrusters.
The minimum secondary goal is to get the probe at least 4 million kilometers on a trajectory
to Mars, but the team will attempt to get it up to 96 million kilometers before the
end of the mission.
For comparison, the minimum distance from Earth to Mars is about 56 million kilometers.
To get farther than any other vehicle of this size, the CubeSat will also test its software
for radio communications with Earth.
CuSp, a solar orbiter Among the Nasa-branded CubeSats is CuSP (CubeSat
mission to study Solar Particles), which aims to study solar particles by orbiting the Sun.
Specifically, the nanosatellite will analyze radiation from the Sun, such as solar winds
and other phenomena that may impact terrestrial telecommunications.
CuSP will also be the pilot project to assess the feasibility of a network of CubeSats for
space weather monitoring.
The small probe, consisting of six standard CubeSats, weighs 10.2 kg.
It will have three instruments on board: a miniaturized ion sensor, which will study
the sources and mechanisms of solar energetic particle acceleration, a proton and electron
detector, and a magnetometer.
LunaH-Map, hunting for lunar hydrogen.
The Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper is a miniature hydrogen hunter.
Designed by researchers and students at Arizona State University, the CubeSat aims to study
hydrogen abundances in shadowed areas of the Moon.
It will fly over the Moon to a distance of about 5 to 10 kilometers from its surface,
and build a map of lunar hydrogen on a spatial scale of about 10 kilometers.
The probe will be placed in an elliptical orbit whose perigee will be extremely low,
between 8-20 kilometers.
The proximity to the surface is a requirement born of the fact that neutron data at low
altitudes can best characterize the distribution and amount of lunar water.
The latter is data of enormous interest for future resource utilization by human missions
that will visit the Moon.
Lunar IceCube, in search of ice on the Moon.
In three words, the slogan of this CubeSat is "Follow the water."
Developed by Morehead State University, Lunar IceCube is designed to "sniff out" water and
other useful resources on the Moon.
This will help future human missions to our satellite to make the most of resources on
the lunar surface.
The satellite will have a structure of 6 CubeSat units, and a total mass of about 14 kg.
Lunar IceCube will use an innovative ion engine to reach the desired altitude, which will
enable it to make systematic measurements of lunar water characteristics from an orbit
about 100 km above the surface.
The CubeSat will use a sophisticated infrared camera that is a smaller version of the one
used on the New Horizons probe, designed with the wavelengths needed to distinguish different
states of water, such as ice deposits or water in the liquid phase.
LunIR, the lunar prospector LunIR, or Lunar InfraRed imaging, is also
a microsatellite intended to map the lunar surface.
Its goal will be to provide additional data for the evaluation of lunar landing sites
for future manned lunar missions.
The satellite's main instrument is an infrared sensor that will enable LunIR to measure thermal
emission and reflected sunlight from the lunar surface.
The device, made by Lockheed Martin, weighs about 14 kg and is also a set of six individual
cubes.
It will map the lunar surface both day and night using micro-cryocoolers, devices that
will keep the temperature of the optical apparatus constant and allow the chamber to operate
at much higher temperatures than normal for this type of infrared observation.
The small cryocoolers are described by Lockheed as the lightest and most durable ever developed
for the space environment.
NEA Scout, the guardian of small and dangerous asteroids
Another important mission is the Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, planned by the Marshall Space
Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NEA Scout is a NASA project to develop a CubeSat (composed of 6 individual cubes and equipped
with an 86-square-meter solar sail) that is capable of encountering NEAs, asteroids with
a dangerously Earth-like orbit.
The current mission target is asteroid 2020 GE, about 18 meters in diameter, but that
could change depending on the launch date or other factors.
After deploying the glider, Scout will perform a series of lunar flyovers to insert itself
into the orbit that will take it to its final destination.
The asteroid will make a close approach to Earth in September 2023 at a distance of about
5.7 million kilometers.
At that time, Scout will approach the asteroid up to 1.5 kilometers and perform the slowest
flyover ever by a probe: only 110 kilometers per hour!
A 14-megapixel camera, the mission's only instrument, will film the object at very high
resolutions of up to 10 cm per pixel.
The mission will demonstrate the ability of an extremely small spacecraft, powered by
a solar sail, to perform low-cost reconnaissance of an asteroid.
The goal is to develop a technology that fills knowledge gaps in ultra-small NEAs.
OMOTENASHI, the world's smallest lander!
Of all the payloads on Artemis 1, the Japanese mission OMOTENASHI is certainly among the
most interesting since it will be the only one to land on the lunar surface.
In fact, the Japanese CubeSat - consisting of 6 cubes and weighing 14.6 kg - carries
the smallest lunar lander in history: 0.7 kg!
The purpose of the JAXA (Japan's space agency) mission will be to validate micro lander landing
technologies and miniaturized propulsion apparatus.
After separation from the second stage of SLS, OMOTENASHI will perform a corrective
maneuver to enter lunar orbit.
After 5-6 days, the lunar landing will begin, with the CubeSat performing a second engine
firing to begin deceleration.
When the action is over, a small solid-propellant engine will detach from the orbital part of
the satellite, taking the actual lander with it.
After the release, the solid engine will fire for 15 seconds to slow the descent.
Then the lander will eject the retrorocket, entering free fall toward the Moon's surface.
The impact will be cushioned using an airbag and a shock-absorption system,
The rest of the CubeSat (the orbital module) will later crash onto the lunar surface.
EQUULEUS: radiation, and meteorites.
Also made by Jaxa, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, is the EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth
point 6U Spacecraft (Equuleus) CubeSat.
Its goal will be to analyze space radiation around Earth.
In addition to helping to better understand low-energy trajectory control techniques and
lunar flybys in the Earth-Moon region, Equuleus could provide crucial information to protect
electronics and astronauts during long-duration space missions.
To perform these maneuvers for low-energy trajectories, EQUULEUS is equipped with an
innovative vapor propulsion apparatus consisting of eight thrusters using about 1.2 kg of water.
It also carries CLOTH on board, an instrument that will measure meteor flow in cislunar
space using sensors that can detect the presence of dust.
The results of this instrument may be of great relevance in understanding how the constant
impact of meteorites on the Moon may affect the future human presence on our satellite.
BioSentinel, biological experiment Also tied to astronaut health is Biosentinel,
a CubeSat made by Nasa's Ames Research Center that aims to better understand the effect
of radiation on organisms in space.
The mission will use a well-known ingredient here on Earth: yeast, which will serve as
a 'model organism' to understand how high-energy radiation can damage DNA.
In fact, no laboratory on Earth is capable of duplicating the radiation typical of the
space environment.
Secondary objectives of the mission include testing the effects on the yeast of a solar
storm.
BioSentinel will be NASA's first experiment on the biological effects of radiation beyond
low Earth orbit since the last Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
ArgoMoon, the "official photographer" The Italian Cubesat ArgoMoon will be perhaps
the "nicest" of those aboard the mission.
He will be the first to be released, by the task he has been assigned.
In fact, ArgoMoon's main purpose is to stay close to the SLS upper stage, photograph it
and then film the release of the other CubeSats.
The images it will make of the second stage on its way to the Moon and the release of
the CubeSats will be historic and important.
ArgoMoon will then test communications between Earth and the Cubesat, and will also engage
in photographing Earth and Moon
One of the main innovations of this satellite is the onboard software, developed by Argotec.
In fact, ArgoMoon, once released into space should be able to automatically detect the
upper stage of SLS and move autonomously in its vicinity.
The onboard software will also be used in the second part of the mission.
Once the main mission is completed, the satellite will turn on its engine several times to enter
a geocentric orbit with high eccentricity.
This means that ArgoMoon will still be orbiting the Earth, but in its apogee, it will come
very close to the Moon, close enough to be able to photograph it with great resolution.
There, dear friends-that's it.
Between now and the end of the year we will have a lot to enjoy.
And it will not only be about following the vicissitudes of the Orion capsule but also
all the extraordinary and exciting adventures that this cute little satellite swarm will
not fail to get into!