Session
Session 8: Frank J. Redd Student Competition
Abstract
Incidents like the Chelyabinsk meteor airburst in 2013 show the potential dangers of a meteor impact on modern human civilization. However, not much is known about meteor impacts, including frequency of high impact bursts, typical size and composition. We propose the development of a Space Weather and Meteor Impact Monitoring Network (SWIMNet). SWIMNet will be composed of two observer CubeSats located in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to autonomously detect and track meteor trails in the Earth’s atmosphere. A third CubeSat will contain a 2 kg meteorite that will be deployed on an Earth reentry trajectory. The observer satellites, combined with ground telescopes will track this artificial reentry event and be used to validate the autonomous detection and tracking algorithms. Beyond this demonstration, the observer satellites will operate in Earth orbit for up to 1 year and detect natural meteor trails. The proposed mission utilizes off-the-shelf CubeSat technology and points towards a feasible pathway for further development.
Presentation
On-Orbit Demonstration of the Space Weather and Meteor Impact Monitoring Network
Incidents like the Chelyabinsk meteor airburst in 2013 show the potential dangers of a meteor impact on modern human civilization. However, not much is known about meteor impacts, including frequency of high impact bursts, typical size and composition. We propose the development of a Space Weather and Meteor Impact Monitoring Network (SWIMNet). SWIMNet will be composed of two observer CubeSats located in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to autonomously detect and track meteor trails in the Earth’s atmosphere. A third CubeSat will contain a 2 kg meteorite that will be deployed on an Earth reentry trajectory. The observer satellites, combined with ground telescopes will track this artificial reentry event and be used to validate the autonomous detection and tracking algorithms. Beyond this demonstration, the observer satellites will operate in Earth orbit for up to 1 year and detect natural meteor trails. The proposed mission utilizes off-the-shelf CubeSat technology and points towards a feasible pathway for further development.
