SunRISE Mission Implementation

Abstract:

Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) is a space-based low frequency (100 kHz – 25 MHz) radio interferometer that will provide a new view on particle acceleration and transport in the inner heliosphere by localizing and tracking solar radio emissions. It is designed to localize and track the locations of solar Type II radio bursts associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The observatory implementation consists of an array of six smallsats each with dual-polarized low gain dipole antennas and radio receivers operating at frequencies between 100 kHz and 25 MHz. The typical spacecraft separation is designed to be ~10 km with >90% observation duty cycle optimized for spatially and temporally resolving solar radio bursts that cannot be observed on Earth due to ionospheric absorption. The signals received by each spacecraft are channelized and telemetered to ground where the radio interferometric beam is formed digitally to localize solar radio bursts. In addition, the beam can be digitally steered in any direction during ground processing, enabling space-based radio astronomical observations. This talk describes the implementation of NASA’s SunRISE mission.

Complementary abstracts are presented by J. Kasper, J. Lazio, and A. Hegedus.

Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.