SM052-0009
Compact Instrumentation for Energetic Particles at Magnetized Planets

Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Poster
Thomas Sotirelis1, Robyn M Millan2, John Glen Sample3, Chris Paranicas1 and Leonardo Regoli4, (1)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (2)Dartmouth College, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hanover, NH, United States, (3)Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States, (4)Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Dorking, United Kingdom
Abstract:
A new compact sensor architecture is available for energetic particle science at magnetized planets. It features a multi-aperture collimator and solid state detector stacks, compact electronics using custom ASICs, as well as a miniature electrostatic analyzer built using MEMS techniques. This sensor can observe from plasma energies up to 10 MeV electrons and 100 MeV protons. The multi-aperture collimator and detector architecture provide multiple simultaneous look-directions, which can observe pitch angle distributions well on 3-axis stabilized spacecraft. Depending on required geometry factors and energy ranges it is 1-2 U in volume, 3-4 kg in mass and draws ~3 watts. The REAL CubeSat, a NASA Low Cost Access to Space mission, will be demonstrating a sensor of this type in 2021. We describe the REAL instrument and potential planetary applications.
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