All 2015 Content
Session
Technical Session XII: Science/Mission Payloads
Abstract
The Shields-1 CubeSat mission develops radiation shielding materials’ technologies for enhanced Space durability of commercial of the shelf (COTS) components. Radiation shielding tests on Shields-1 are planned for the expected radiation environment in a geotransfer orbit (GTO), where secondary payload opportunities exist. Atomic number (Z) graded radiation shields have been developed and have shown through The Space Environment Information System (SPENVIS) radiation shielding modeling to have ~30% increased shielding effectiveness of electrons, at half the thickness in comparison to single layer of aluminum. The most significant contribution of the Z-shields for the SmallSat community is enabling shielding for small satellite systems with significant volume constraints while increasing the operational lifetime of ionizing radiation sensitive components. The severe radiation environment in GTO enables a range of material thicknesses to be characterized. The Shields-1 research payload will be made with these Z-graded radiation shields of varying thicknesses to create dose-depth curves to be compared with baseline materials. The radiation shielding materials’ performances will be characterized using total ionizing dose sensors. Completion of these experiments is expected to raise the technology readiness levels (TRLs) of the tested atomic number (Z) graded materials, and are anticipated to increase the development of CubeSats out of low earth orbit by increasing the typical CubeSat mission lifetimes from 3 months to over a year
Presentation
Shields-1, A SmallSat Radiation Shielding Technology Demonstration
The Shields-1 CubeSat mission develops radiation shielding materials’ technologies for enhanced Space durability of commercial of the shelf (COTS) components. Radiation shielding tests on Shields-1 are planned for the expected radiation environment in a geotransfer orbit (GTO), where secondary payload opportunities exist. Atomic number (Z) graded radiation shields have been developed and have shown through The Space Environment Information System (SPENVIS) radiation shielding modeling to have ~30% increased shielding effectiveness of electrons, at half the thickness in comparison to single layer of aluminum. The most significant contribution of the Z-shields for the SmallSat community is enabling shielding for small satellite systems with significant volume constraints while increasing the operational lifetime of ionizing radiation sensitive components. The severe radiation environment in GTO enables a range of material thicknesses to be characterized. The Shields-1 research payload will be made with these Z-graded radiation shields of varying thicknesses to create dose-depth curves to be compared with baseline materials. The radiation shielding materials’ performances will be characterized using total ionizing dose sensors. Completion of these experiments is expected to raise the technology readiness levels (TRLs) of the tested atomic number (Z) graded materials, and are anticipated to increase the development of CubeSats out of low earth orbit by increasing the typical CubeSat mission lifetimes from 3 months to over a year
