Session
Technical Session III: Advanced Technologies I
Abstract
We report on the design of FalconSAT-7 (FS-7), a 3U Cubesat with a deployable solar telescope payload. The program is run by undergraduate cadets at the Air Force Academy, and graduate students at the Air Force Institute of Technology. The purpose of the mission is to demonstrate a deployable telescope with larger aperture than the spacecraft structure. The telescope deploys from one end of FS-7, and has a clear aperture of 20cm, twice the cross section of the host spacecraft structure. This novel payload is made possible by the use of a thin (28 micron) membrane optic using diffractive principles to focus H-alpha light from the sun onto an onboard camera. The membrane optic is deployed using a set of spring loaded pantographs, which tension the membrane and hold it flat. The Colony-II program office provided the 3U bus which is built by the Boeing Company. The FS-7 mission is supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office. Launch of FS-7 is expected in late 2015.
Presentation
FalconSAT-7—A Deployable Solar Telescope
We report on the design of FalconSAT-7 (FS-7), a 3U Cubesat with a deployable solar telescope payload. The program is run by undergraduate cadets at the Air Force Academy, and graduate students at the Air Force Institute of Technology. The purpose of the mission is to demonstrate a deployable telescope with larger aperture than the spacecraft structure. The telescope deploys from one end of FS-7, and has a clear aperture of 20cm, twice the cross section of the host spacecraft structure. This novel payload is made possible by the use of a thin (28 micron) membrane optic using diffractive principles to focus H-alpha light from the sun onto an onboard camera. The membrane optic is deployed using a set of spring loaded pantographs, which tension the membrane and hold it flat. The Colony-II program office provided the 3U bus which is built by the Boeing Company. The FS-7 mission is supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office. Launch of FS-7 is expected in late 2015.
