Session
Session V: Upcoming Missions
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
The Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density (LLITED) CubeSat mission is a NASA funded HTIDs project. It is a 3-year grant with two 1.5U CubeSats with an estimated delivery in the spring of 2020 and a 1- year on-orbit mission life. Each CubeSat will host a miniature ionization gauge space instrument (MIGSI), planar ion probe (PIP), and GPS radio occultation sensor (CTECS-A). The mission is to provide both ionosphere and thermosphere measurements related to the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and the Equatorial Temperature and Wind Anomaly (ETWA). The EIA and ETWA are two of the dominant ionosphere/thermosphere interactions on the low-latitude duskside. While the EIA has been extensively studied both observationally and with modeling, the ETWA is less well known since observations are infrequent due to a lack of suitably instrumented spacecraft (s/c) at appropriate altitudes. LLITED will, for the first time, provide coincident high-resolution measurements of the duskside ionosphere/thermosphere at lower altitudes that will characterize and improve our understanding of the ETWA, provide insight into the coupling physics between the ETWA and EIA, and increase our knowledge of the duskside dynamics that may influence space weather. The following paper reviews the science mission and concepts and then provides the current status of the LLITED hardware.
The Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density (LLITED) Mission
Utah State University, Logan, UT
The Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density (LLITED) CubeSat mission is a NASA funded HTIDs project. It is a 3-year grant with two 1.5U CubeSats with an estimated delivery in the spring of 2020 and a 1- year on-orbit mission life. Each CubeSat will host a miniature ionization gauge space instrument (MIGSI), planar ion probe (PIP), and GPS radio occultation sensor (CTECS-A). The mission is to provide both ionosphere and thermosphere measurements related to the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and the Equatorial Temperature and Wind Anomaly (ETWA). The EIA and ETWA are two of the dominant ionosphere/thermosphere interactions on the low-latitude duskside. While the EIA has been extensively studied both observationally and with modeling, the ETWA is less well known since observations are infrequent due to a lack of suitably instrumented spacecraft (s/c) at appropriate altitudes. LLITED will, for the first time, provide coincident high-resolution measurements of the duskside ionosphere/thermosphere at lower altitudes that will characterize and improve our understanding of the ETWA, provide insight into the coupling physics between the ETWA and EIA, and increase our knowledge of the duskside dynamics that may influence space weather. The following paper reviews the science mission and concepts and then provides the current status of the LLITED hardware.
