Lunar Ice Cube: BIRCHES Payload and the Search for Volatiles with a First Generation Deep Space CubeSat

Lunar Ice Cube, a science requirements-driven deep space exploration 6U cubesat mission was selected for a NASA HEOMD NextSTEP slot on the EM1 launch. We are developing a compact broadband IR instrument for a high priority science application: understanding volatile origin, distribution, and ongoing processes in the inner solar system. JPL\u27s Lunar Flashlight, and Arizona State University\u27s LunaH-Map, both also EM1 lunar orbiters, will provide complimentary observations to be used in understanding volatile dynamics. The Lunar Ice Cube mission science focus, led by the JPL science PI, is on enabling broadband spectral determination of composition and distribution of volatiles in regoliths of the Moon and analogous bodies as a function of time of day, latitude, regolith age and composition and thus enabling understanding of current dynamics of volatile sources, sinks, and processes, with implications for evolutionary origin of volatiles. Lunar Ice Cube utilizes a versatile GSFC-developed payload: BIRCHES, Broadband InfraRed Compact, High-resolution Exploration Spectrometer, a miniaturized version of OVIRS on OSIRIS-REx. BIRCHES is a compact (1.5U, 2 kg, 7W including cryocooler) point spectrometer with a compact cryo-cooled HgCdTe focal plane array for broadband (1 to 4 micron) measurements, achieving sufficient SNR (\u3e400) and spectral resolution (10 nm) through the use of a Linear Variable Filter to characterize and distinguish important volatiles (water, H2S, NH3, CO2, CH4, OH, organics) and mineral bands. We are also developing compact instrument electronics which can be easily reconfigured to support the instrument in \u27imager\u27 mode, once the communication downlink band-width becomes available, and the H1RG family of focal plane arrays. Thermal design is critical for the instrument. The compact and efficient Ricor cryocooler is designed to maintain the detector temperature below 120K. In order to maintain the optical system below 220K, a special radiator is dedicated to optics alone, in addition to a smaller radiator to maintain a nominal environment for spacecraft electronics. The Lunar Ice Cube team is led by Morehead State University, who will provide build, integrate and test the spacecraft, provide missions operations and ground communication. Propulsion is provided by the Busek Iodine ion propulsion (BIT-3) engine. Attitude Control will be provided by the Blue Canyon Technology XB1, which also includes a C&DH \u27bus\u27. C&DH will also be supported, redundantly, by the Proton 200k Lite and Honeywell DM microprocessor. Onboard communication will be provided by the Xband JPL Iris Radio and dual patch antennas. Ground communication will be provided by the DSN Xband network, particularly the Morehead State University 21-meter substation. Flight Dynamics support, including trajectory design, is provided by GSFC. Use of a micropropulsion system in a low energy trajectory will allow the spacecraft to achieve the science orbit within a year. The high inclination, equatorial periapsis orbit will allow coverage of overlapping swaths, with a 10 km along-track and cross-track foot-print, once every lunar cycle at up to six different times of day (from dawn to dusk) as the mission progresses during its nominal six month science mapping period

Lunar and Lagrangian Point L1/L2 CubeSat Communication and Navigation Considerations

CubeSats have grown in sophistication to the point that relatively low-cost mission solutions could be undertaken for planetary exploration. There are unique considerations for lunar and L1/L2 CubeSat communication and navigation compared with low earth orbit CubeSats. This paper explores those considerations as they relate to the Lunar IceCube Mission. The Lunar IceCube is a CubeSat mission led by Morehead State University with participation from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Busek Company and Vermont Tech. It will search for surface water ice and other resources from a high inclination lunar orbit. Lunar IceCube is one of a select group of CubeSats designed to explore beyond low-earth orbit that will fly on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) as secondary payloads for Exploration Mission (EM) 1. Lunar IceCube and the EM-1 CubeSats will lay the groundwork for future lunar and L1/L2 CubeSat missions. This paper discusses communication and navigation needs for the Lunar IceCube mission and navigation and radiation tolerance requirements related to lunar and L1/L2 orbits. Potential CubeSat radios and antennas for such missions are investigated and compared. Ground station coverage, link analysis, and ground station solutions are also discussed. This paper will describe modifications in process for the Morehead ground station, as well as further enhancements of the Morehead ground station and NASA Near Earth Network (NEN) that are being considered. The potential NEN enhancements include upgrading current NEN Cortex receiver with Forward Error Correction (FEC) Turbo Code, providing X-band uplink capability, and adding ranging options. The benefits of ground station enhancements for CubeSats flown on NASA Exploration Missions (EM) are presented. This paper also describes how the NEN may support lunar and L1/L2 CubeSats without any enhancements. In addition, NEN is studying other initiatives to better support the CubeSat community, including streamlining the compatibility testing, planning and scheduling associated with CubeSat missions

Overview of Phobos/Deimos Regolith Ion Sample Mission (PRISM) Concept

Far more definitive information on composition is required to resolve the question of origin for the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos. Current infrared spectra of the objects are inconclusive due to the lack of strong diagnostic features.Definitive compositional measurements of Phobos could be obtained using in-situ X-ray, gamma-ray, or neutronspectroscopy or collecting and returning samples to Earth for analysis. We have proposed, in lieu of those methods, toderive Phobos and Deimos compositional data from secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) measurements by calibratingthe instrument to elemental abundance measurements made for known samples in the laboratory. We describe thePhobos/Deimos Regolith Ion Sample Mission (PRISM) concept here. PRISM utilizes a high-resolution TOF plasma composition analyzer to make SIMS measurements by observing the sputtered species from various locations of the moons' surfaces. In general, the SIMS technique and ion mass spectrometers complement and expand quadrupole mass spectrometer measurements by collecting ions that have been energized to higher energies, 50-100 eV, and making measurements at very low densities and pressures. Furthermore, because the TOF technique accepts all masses all the time,it obtains continuous measurements and does not require stepping through masses. The instrument would draw less than10 W and weigh less than 5 kg. The spacecraft, nominally a radiation-hardened 12U CubeSat, would use a low-thrust SolarElectric Propulsion system to send it on a two-year journey to Mars, where it would co-orbit with Deimos and then Phobo

The Dependable Multiprocessor: An Application Study

The Dependable Multiprocessor (DM) F-cubed flight prototype developed by Morehead State University is a flexible computing platform for CubeSats. The processor cluster allows users to expand CubeSat capabilities where extensive processing tasks are required. The DM contains eight (8) Gumstix™ Overo Water processor modules, an Ethernet Switch, DM current sense/current limit/voltage cutoff/reset power management circuitry, and a variety of spacecraft interfaces for testing, debugging. All of these functions are contained in a 75 mm x 75 mm x 35 mm package, roughly 1/3 of a 1U CubeSat section. This presentation will demonstrate how the DM module can be applied to a high performance mission and how the capabilities are flexible to meet mission needs