Session
Science/Mission Payloads
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
With advances in machining techniques that can manufacture high aspect ratio structures at high accuracy, cylindrical geometry electrostatic analyzers present a versatile alternative to spherical designs. We report on the development of the 3D Cylindircal And Tiny Spectrometer (3D-CATS), a novel space plasma analyzer that performs instantaneous 3D (multiple energy, azimuth and elevation angles) measurements, providing differential energy, wide field of view particle imaging in a compact, low-SWaP (size, weight and power) package.
The baseline analyzer design consists of a nest of 8 cylindrical analyzers, providing measurements of incoming particle energy distributions over an energy range of 10 eV to 40 keV. The design is modular, with each module achieving an angular coverage of 90° in azimuth and 45° in elevation and the modules can be stacked and configured to provide all-sky coverage. Charged particle optics simulations of the geometry have been carried out, giving a geometric factor of 10-4 cm2 sr eV/eV for a 22.5° azimuth sector, comparable to the state-of-the-art. A prototype of the analyzer has been built and tested to TRL 5. The prototype is compact enough to be flown on a CubeSat within a 2U resource envelope (20x10x10cm, < 1.5 kgs, 2.5-4W), including its electronics. The compact and modular nature of the instrument makes it very attractive for many future geophysics missions, particularly for nanosatellite and multi-satellite platforms.
Document Type
Event
A Miniaturized, High Geometric Factor, Electrostatic Analyzer for Fast Plasma Measurements
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
With advances in machining techniques that can manufacture high aspect ratio structures at high accuracy, cylindrical geometry electrostatic analyzers present a versatile alternative to spherical designs. We report on the development of the 3D Cylindircal And Tiny Spectrometer (3D-CATS), a novel space plasma analyzer that performs instantaneous 3D (multiple energy, azimuth and elevation angles) measurements, providing differential energy, wide field of view particle imaging in a compact, low-SWaP (size, weight and power) package.
The baseline analyzer design consists of a nest of 8 cylindrical analyzers, providing measurements of incoming particle energy distributions over an energy range of 10 eV to 40 keV. The design is modular, with each module achieving an angular coverage of 90° in azimuth and 45° in elevation and the modules can be stacked and configured to provide all-sky coverage. Charged particle optics simulations of the geometry have been carried out, giving a geometric factor of 10-4 cm2 sr eV/eV for a 22.5° azimuth sector, comparable to the state-of-the-art. A prototype of the analyzer has been built and tested to TRL 5. The prototype is compact enough to be flown on a CubeSat within a 2U resource envelope (20x10x10cm, < 1.5 kgs, 2.5-4W), including its electronics. The compact and modular nature of the instrument makes it very attractive for many future geophysics missions, particularly for nanosatellite and multi-satellite platforms.
