A123
The Current and Future Scientific Impact of Small Satellites on Space Missions

Session ID#: 77699

Session Description:
Although the earliest scientific satellites were small, they have grown in size, capability, and cost over time.  As AGU enters its second century, new small satellite missions are producing results that are nearly indistinguishable from traditional missions. These first-of-a-kind measurements are enabled by instrument advancements, launch capabilities, informatics, and constellations. Small satellites are also contributing synergistically to large missions in novel ways. They are being conducted by a diverse array of investigators, ranging from the well-established to space newcomers. Indeed, these events have now inspired the community to assess the relationship of small satellite science results to traditional large missions across all space-based science disciplines. Have we reached an inflection point in the ability of small satellites to lead strategic scientific investigations? In the near future will small satellites be an integral part of mission planning for traditional scientific investigations from inception? This session will explore these and related questions.
Co-Organized:
  • IN - Earth and Space Science Informatics
  • SH - SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics
Index Terms:

0399 General or miscellaneous [ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE]
1699 General or miscellaneous [GLOBAL CHANGE]
7599 General or miscellaneous [SOLAR PHYSICS, ASTROPHYSICS, AND ASTRONOMY]
7899 General or miscellaneous [SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS]

Primary Convener:  Charles D Norton, NASA Headquarters, Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC, United States
Conveners:  David M Klumpar, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States, William H Swartz, Johns Hopkins Univ, Laurel, MD, United States and Pamela Millar, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Primary Liaison:  Charles D Norton, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
 
From Van Allen to REAL (553357)
Thomas Sotirelis, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Robyn M Millan, Dartmouth College, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hanover, NH, United States and John Glen Sample, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States
 
HyTI: High spectral and spatial resolution thermal imaging from a 6U CubeSat (571614)
Robert Wright, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, Honolulu, HI, United States and The HyTI Team
 
ESCAPADE: the first multi-spacecraft science mission to another planet. (Invited) (595054)
Robert J Lillis1, Shannon Curry1, David W Curtis2, Ellen Taylor3, Jeffrey Parker4, Janet G Luhmann5, Aroh Barjatya6, Davin E Larson7, Christopher T Russell8, Roberto Livi2, Phyllis L Whittlesey2, Yingjuan Ma9, Ronan Modolo10, Yuki Harada11, Dave A Brain12, Paul Withers13, Christopher M Fowler14, Shaosui Xu1 and Edward Thiemann12, (1)Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, (2)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, (3)University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States, (4)Advanced Space, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)University of California Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States, (6)Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Physical Sciences Department, Daytona Beach, FL, United States, (7)Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States, (8)University of California Los Angeles, Department of Earth Planetary and Space Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (9)University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (10)UVSQ / LATMOS-IPSL/CNRS-INSU, Guyancourt, France, (11)University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, (12)Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO, United States, (13)Boston University, Boston, MA, United States, (14)Univ Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
 
The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) IV Pathfinder (597162)
Michael D Obland1, Charles Anthony Hill1, Robert Damadeo1 and John P. Leckey2, (1)NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, United States, (2)NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, United States
 
Realizing the Full Scientific Promise of Small Satellites (601088)
David M Klumpar, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States
 
Rainfall Estimation from TEMPEST-D CubeSat Observations: A Machine Learning Approach (604335)
Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan, V. Chandrasekar and Steven C Reising, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
 
The twin-probe method: tracking the variable potential of small satellites to improve Langmuir probe measurement accuracy (616307)
Omar Leon1, Jesse McTernan2, Grant Miars3, Walter Hoegy3 and Brian E. Gilchrist3, (1)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Applied Physics, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (2)NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, United States, (3)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
 
Lunar Tethered Resource Explorer (Lunar T-REx) (618271)
Timothy John Stubbs1, John D Hudeck2, Robert P Hoyt3, Benjamin K Malphrus4, Michael E Purucker5, Michael A Mesarch1, David Folta1, Thomas E Johnson2, Gerardo E Cruz-Ortiz1, Jared R Espley6, Eric T Stoneking1, Maryam Bakhtiari-nejad1 and Richard R Vondrak1, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA, United States, (3)Tethers Unlimited, Inc., Bothell, United States, (4)Morehead State University, Morehead, United States, (5)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Planetary Magnetospheres Laboratory, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (6)Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
 
CubeSat 201 – Guidelines for Optimizing Affordability and Operational Reliability in Small Spacecraft (620220)
Bruce Daniel Yost and Craig Burkhard, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States
 
Miniature Distributed Occulter Telescope (mDOT): A Concept for a Smallsat Mission to Observe Extrasolar Zodiacal Dust and Exoplanets (620685)
Bruce Macintosh1, Simone D'Amico2, Adam Koenig3 and Alex Madurowicz3, (1)Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, (2)Stanford University, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford, CA, United States, (3)Stanford University, Stanford, United States
 
A New Method for Spaceborne Remote Sensing of RZSM and SWE: SigNals Of Opportunity P-band Investigation (627073)
James L Garrison1, Rashmi Shah2, Jeffrey R. Piepmeier3, Rajat Bindlish4, David A Spencer5, Roger Banting6, Manuel Alejandro Vega3, Kameron Larsen7 and Signals Of Opportunity P-band Investigation (SNOOPI) Team (NASA InVEST 2018), (1)Purdue University, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, West Lafayette, IN, United States, (2)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (4)Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (5)Purdue University, Aeronautics and Astronautics, West Lafayette, United States, (6)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States, (7)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States
 
The Miniature Neutron Spectrometer: A CLYC-based Detector for the LunaH-Map Mission (628302)
Erik Johnson1, Graham J. Stoddard2, James F. Christian2, Meghan Kaffine3, Rebecca Frank4, Craig Hardgrove5, Lena Heffern5, Joe DuBois6, Bob Roebuck7, Nathaniel Struebel6, Igor Lazbin7, Patrick Hailey8, Thomas H Prettyman9 and Richard D Starr10, (1)Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc., Auburn, MA, United States, (2)Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., Watertown, MA, United States, (3)Radiation Monitoring Devices, Watertown, MA, United States, (4)Harvard University, Cambridge, United States, (5)Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States, (6)Arizona State University, Tempe, United States, (7)AZ Space Technologies, Tempe, United States, (8)Qwaltec, Tempe, United States, (9)Planetary Science Institute Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM, United States, (10)Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, United States
 
Exploring the Role of SmallSats in the Context of GPM for the Future of Precipitation Measurements (Invited) (628451)
Wesley K Berg, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States, Gail Skofronick Jackson, NASA-GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States and Scott A Braun, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States
 
The Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) Mission: Revealing Hydrogen Enrichments at the Moon's South Pole (487166)
Craig J Hardgrove1, Richard D Starr2, Thomas H Prettyman3, Igor Lazbin4, Anthony Colaprete5, Alessandra Babuscia6, Erik Johnson7, James F. Christian8, Lena Heffern1 and James F Bell III1, (1)Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States, (2)Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, United States, (3)Planetary Science Institute Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM, United States, (4)AZ Space Technologies, Tempe, United States, (5)NASA, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (6)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (7)Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc., Auburn, MA, United States, (8)Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., Watertown, MA, United States
 
GTOSat: A Next-Generation CubeSat to study Earth’s Radiation Belts (496550)
Lauren W Blum1, Larry Kepko2, Drew L. Turner3, Allison N Jaynes4, Shrikanth G Kanekal2 and Quintin Schiller5, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (4)University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, (5)Space Science Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
 
The Development of Cubesat Instruments to Image Magnetic Reconnection (507470)
Emil Atz1, Brian Walsh1, Lisa J Billingsley2, Jeffrey Michael Broll1, Michael R Collier2, Hyunju KIM Connor3, Brenda Dingwall4, Joseph T Kujawski5, Kip D Kuntz6, F. Scott Porter2, David G Sibeck2, Steven L Snowden2, Nicholas Thomas2, Drew L. Turner7, Allan Thomas Weatherwax8, Ajmal Yousuff9 and Alex Zosuls1, (1)Boston University, Boston, MA, United States, (2)NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States, (4)NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops, VA, United States, (5)Siena College, Physics, Loudonville, NY, United States, (6)Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, (7)The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (8)Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, United States, (9)Drexel University, Philadelphia, United States
 
The MILO Space Science Institute and Smallsat Missions to Explore the Diversity of Near-Earth Asteroids (Invited) (509246)
James F Bell III1, Lindsay Wolff2, Vishnu Reddy3, David Trilling4, Elizabeth Cantwell5, David E. Thomas5, Lon Levin2 and Scott Smas1, (1)Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Tempe, AZ, United States, (2)Lockheed Martin Corporation, Arlington, United States, (3)University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, AZ, United States, (4)Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States, (5)Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
 
Radio Occultation Results from MarCO, The First Interplanetary Cubesat Mission (513804)
Kamal Oudrhiri1, Yu-Ming Yang2, Paul Withers3, Dustin Buccino1, Norman Lay4, Paolo Tortora5, Daniel S Kahan1, Joseph Lazio1, Andrew Klesh2, John Baker6, Steve E Matousek7, Susan Finley8, Joel Krajewski8 and Serjik Zadourian8, (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)Boston University, Boston, MA, United States, (4)JPL, Pasadena, United States, (5)University of Bologna, Department of Industrial Engineering, Bologna, Italy, (6)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (7)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Tujunga, CA, United States, (8)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States
 
The Tandem Reconnection And Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) Mission (515182)
Craig Kletzing, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States and The TRACERS Mission Team
 
Potential Impact of RainCube-like radars in CubeSats for Cloud and Precipitation Space Missions (526549)
Ousmane Sy1, Eva Peral2, Simone Tanelli1, Shannon Statham1, Gian Franco Sacco2, Shivani Joshi3, Ziad S Haddad4, Stephen L Durden2, Gregg Dobrowalski3 and Eastwood Im1, (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States, (4)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
 
Big Science with Small Satellites: The Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (Invited) (529643)
Craig E. DeForest, Southwest Research Institute, Dept. of Space Studies, Boulder, CO, United States, Sarah E Gibson, NCAR, HAO, Boulder, CO, United States, Ronnie Killough, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States, William Kosmann, Astronautics, Boulder, CO, United States and The PUNCH Development Team
 
Current and Future Earth Science Impact of Global Measurements from Microwave Atmospheric Sounders on Closely-Spaced CubeSats: The Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems (TEMPEST) Mission (531650)
Steven C Reising1, Todd Gaier2, Shannon Thomas Brown3, Christian Kummerow4, Wesley K Berg1, V Chandrasekar5, Sharmila Padmanabhan2, Boon Lim6, Cate Heneghan6, Richard Schulte7, Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan1, Yuriy Goncharenko8, Matthew Pallas9, Doug Laczkowski9, Austin Bullard9 and Jeff Adams9, (1)Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (2)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States, (4)Colorado State Univ, Department of Atmospheric Science, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (5)Colorado State University, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (6)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (7)Colorado State University, Atmospheric Science, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (8)Colorado State University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (9)Blue Canyon Technologies, Boulder, CO, United States
 
Lunar Trailblazer: A Pioneering SmallSat for Lunar Water and Lunar Geology (Invited) (537707)
Bethany L Ehlmann1,2, Rachel L Klima3, Diana L Blaney4, Neil E Bowles5, Simon B Calcutt5, James L Dickson6, Kerri Donaldson Hanna7, Christopher S Edwards8, Rory Evans5, Robert O Green9, Rebecca N Greenberger6, Martha House10, Chris Howe11, Carle M Pieters12, Rebecca Schindhelm13, Melissa Sampson14, Calina Seybold15, David R Thompson4, Tristram Warren16 and Jonathan D Weinberg13, (1)California Institute of Technology, Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)JHU Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD, United States, (4)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (5)University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, (6)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (7)University of Central Florida, Orlando, United States, (8)Northern Arizona University, Astronomy and Planetary Science, Flagstaff, AZ, United States, (9)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (10)Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA, United States, (11)Science and Technology Facilities Council, RAL Space, Didcot, United Kingdom, (12)Brown University, Providence, RI, United States, (13)Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp, Boulder, CO, United States, (14)Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp, Boulder, United States, (15)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (16)Oxford University, Physics, Oxford, United Kingdom
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