CubeSat | Saint Louis University

Welcome to CubeSat at Parks College Space Systems Research Laboratory

Feel free to visit the SSRL website or contact us with any questions about our upcoming NASA launch of COPPER.

MISSION: The purpose of the COPPER experiment is to study the use of a microbolometer array in low Earth orbit for taking infrared images of propulsion system plumes as well as Earth's atmospheric and oceanic conditions. Our goals are to:

Take thermal images of spacecraft propulsion systems
Study the use of infrared technology (microbolometer array) as applied to Space Situational Awareness
Take thermal pictures of ocean currents
Test how the microbolometer array works in space (effects of radiation interference on images, background noise of limb, nadir and zenith)
Determine the lifetime of the Flir Tau 320 device in space
Use infrared technology to detect propulsion system propellant plumes in LEO and explore plume characterization for COPPER
Conform to the CubeSat standard and fulfill CubeSat and NASA requirements

PAYLOAD: The payload will complete the science portion of COPPER by utilizing the Flir Tau 320 microbolometer array, a Xilinx Virtex5 FPGA, 9MB of Cypress SRAM, and 2GB of flash memory. The payload will photograph and obtain at least two photographs of Earth's cities, oceans, or atmosphere. The infrared camera used onboard COPPER will be a FLIR Tau 320 uncooled microbolometer array. The Tau is 70 grams with low power consumption (< 1 W at 5 V). The primary responsibility of the camera will be imaging Earth; images will be stored on-board to later downlink to the ground. This camera is sensitive in the Long Wave Infrared spectrum (LWIR), with wavelengths ranging from 7.5 microns to 13.5 microns. The operating temperature of this camera is -10 degrees C to 60 degrees C. The camera is rated to withstand 70g pulse shock and 4.3 g rms random vibration over 8 hours in 3 axes.

COPPER will also be partnering with Vanderbilt's Institute for Space and Defense Electronics to fly their radiation electronics testbeds. A small memory tester built by VU students will be flown on COPPER. These testbeds will be flown on several missions over the next few years to refine the VU models and improve the electronics. Parks is hoping to fly several satellites within the next several years, and to continue with the Vanderbilt University partnership.

LAUNCH: COPPER has obtained a launch through NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) Launch Services Program, through ELaNa IV. COPPER is manifested on the SpaceX Falcon9 launch vehicle for the CRS-2 mission, which is slated to launch in June 2012. COPPER will be delivered for final flight testing and launch vehicle integration in December 2011.

LINKS:

CONTACTS:
Principal Investigator: Michael Swartwout, Ph.D. [mswartwo@slu.edu]
Program Manager: Maria Barna [mbarna@slu.edu]
Space Systems Research Laboratory MDD 2110: (314) 977-8440

SPONSORS: