Small Space Telescopes
CubeSat Astronomy Workshop
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In the mid-to-late 2020s, fully autonomous constellations of mass-produced, modest aperture UV and IR telescopes, could bring to space-based astronomical research many of the same benefits that have been provided by arrays and networks of autonomous ground-based visual-wavelength telescopes. Such constellations would nicely complement the autonomous visual ground telescopes as well as larger space telescopes. These constellations would not only expand the space research opportunities of professional astronomers and their graduate students but, thanks to economies of quantity production and their autonomous operation, could also open up research opportunities for undergraduate students and citizen scientists in a manner similar to what has already occurred with autonomous ground-based systems.
Constellations of fully autonomous UV and IR CubeSat telescopes in space could provide time series photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations of interesting objects identified by larger space and ground survey telescopes. The few (and expensive) large survey telescopes take discovery “snapshots,” while the numerous (and low cost) smaller ground telescopes (at visual wavelengths) and space telescopes (at UV and IR wavelengths) make follow-up “movies” of interesting objects. Together, these various telescopes could form a synergistic, efficient whole.
To help advance future prospects for fully autonomous constellations of mass-produced, modest aperture UV and IR telescopes, the Fairborn Institute has organized and participated in three workshops, a study, and a paper for the National Academies of Science’s Astro 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
California Polytechnic State
University Workshop
Friday, April 26, 2019
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
Chair: Charles Van Steenwyk / Co-Chair: Russell Genet
Sponsored by PlaneWave Instruments
In 1999, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) and Stanford University proposed designing, building, and operating standardized miniature satellites they called CubeSats as an educational tool for teaching students about spacecraft hardware, electronics, programming, and operation. The basic 1U CubeSat is 10 cm on a side, while a 3U CubeSat is 10x10x30 cm. This standardization not only allowed multiple CubeSats to be deployed from spring-loaded boxes as excess cargo, but encouraged the development and manufacture of miniature power, communications, computer, and orientation modules that fit together in a CubeSat.
Originally, most CubeSats were designed by students and faculty, but commercially designed and operated CubeSats are now in the majority, such as the many downward-pointing 3U telescopes built and operated by PLANET, a Silicon Valley tech startup. It’s not hard to envision many upward-pointing CubeSat telescopes designed, built, and utilized by students and faculty for astronomical research. A few have already been launched, and, as suggested by Arizona State University astronomer Evgenya Shkolnik by the title of her recent paper (attached), we are “On the verge of an astronomy CubeSat revolution.”
Each year, for the past 15 years, Cal Poly has hosted the CubeSat Developer’s Workshop, and this year (2019) it will be immediately followed, by a modest, one-day CubeSat Astronomy Workshop. All are welcome. You can register via the website of the Institute for Student Astronomical Research, www.in4star.org/cubesat-astronomy. Alternatively, you can register at the Cal Poly CubeSat Developer’s Workshop website, www.cubesat.org/workshop-information. Scroll down near the bottom.
Contacts
Workshop Chair: Charles VanSteenwyk, cvanstee2@gmail.com, 805.503.5087
Workshop Co-Chair: Russell Genet, russmgenet@aol.com, 805.438.3305.
Workshop Agenda
Thursday, April 25th, 2019
18:00
Pre-Workshop Dinner at Beda's Biergarten
Friday, April 26th - ATL Keck Center Building 7, Room 2, California Polytechnic State University
9:00 - 9:10
Opening Remarks - Introduction
Charles Van Steenwyk and Russell Genet - California Polytechnic State University
9:30
CubeSats and SmallSats Astrophysics
Michael Garcia - NASA Science Mission Directorate
10:15
Optical Communications for CubeSats
Tyler Ritz - University of Florida
10:45
Break / Snacks
11:00
Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA)
Mary Knapp - MIT
11:30
HaloSat X-Ray CubeSat
Daniel LaRocca - University of Iowa
12:00
Lunch
13:00
Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment
Arika Egan - Colorado University
13:30
Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat
Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa - Arizona State University
14:00
Cal Poly CubeSat Capabilities
Amelia Greig - California Polytechnic State University
14:30
Break / Snacks
15:00-15:10
Introduction to USQ and Model-Based Systems Engineering
Alejandro Levi - Univ. S. Queensland INOSE / SSWG
15:30
Exploring the Future of CubeSat Astronomy
Charles Van Steenwyk - California Polytechnic State University
15:45
Discussion/Workshop
16:45
Closing Remarks
Charles Van Steenwyk - California Polytechnic State University
18:00
Dinner at Beda's Biergarten - 230 Broad St Ste 130, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Saturday, April 27
9:00
Breakfast at The Apple Farm
Pasadena California Workshop
AAS Workshop: Modest Aperture Space Telescope Astronomy in the 2020s
Workshop at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society
Saturday/Sunday, June 11/12, 2022, Pasadena, California
Organizers
Russell Genet, Office of Research, California Polytechnic State Univ., russmgenet@aol.com
Michael Garcia, NASA Astrophysics Division, Space Science Directorate, michael.r.garcia@nasa.gov
Paul Scowen, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, Exoplanets & Stellar Astrophysics Lab, paul.a.scowen@nasa.gov
Duncan Farrah, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, dfarrah@hawaii.edu
Rachel Freed, Institute for Student Astronomical Research, r.freed2010@gmail.com
Ivan Altunin, University of California, Berkeley, vaa.cosmonaut@gmail.com
In the 2020s, fully autonomous constellations of mass-produced, modest aperture UV and IR telescopes, could bring to space-based astronomical research many of the same benefits that have been provided by arrays and networks of autonomous ground-based visual-wavelength telescopes. Such constellations would nicely complement the autonomous visual ground telescopes as well as larger space telescopes. These constellations would not only expand the space research opportunities of professional astronomers and their graduate students but, thanks to economies of quantity production and their autonomous operation, could also open up research opportunities for undergraduate students and citizen scientists in a manner similar to what has already occurred with autonomous ground-based systems. Advances in technology, quantity production of components, lower launch costs, and wide-band communications should help create a synergistic balance between large and small telescopes in space similar to what has already been achieved between large and small telescopes on the ground.
ASTERIA, the first CubeSat telescope, has been observing exoplanet transits. Left: Two recent college graduates at JPL obtain hands-on experience with ASTERIA. Right: artist’s conception of ASTERIA in orbit.
Constellations of fully autonomous UV and IR CubeSat telescopes in space could provide time-series photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations of interesting objects identified by larger space and ground survey telescopes. The few (and expensive) large survey telescopes take discovery “snapshots,” while the numerous (and low cost) smaller ground telescopes (at visual wavelengths) and space telescopes (at UV and IR wavelengths) make follow-up “movies” of interesting objects. Together, these various telescopes could form a synergistic, efficient whole.
The CubeSat Astronomy in the 2020s workshop was held on January 4, 2020, at the American Astronomical Society’s winter meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. The 70+ attendees were a mix of university and NASA scientists, engineers, and commercial company representatives, as well as a sizable contingent of undergraduate and high school published student researchers.
Introductions and overviews launched the first day (Saturday) of the 2022 AAS workshop, followed by a detailed examination of the UV and IR astronomical research programs that autonomous constellations of modest-aperture space telescopes could support and enhance. The final session of the first day will explored potential advances in UV and IR sensor technologies that could extend the wavelength coverage and sensitivity of future telescopes. A workshop banquet is planned for that evening.
The second day (Sunday) will began with a detailed consideration of autonomous operation, not only of the spacecraft themselves, but also autonomous scheduling of observations in coordination with other space and ground telescopes, as well as downloading, preprocessing, and distribution of the data. All observations would be archived and made available to the public after an appropriate delay.
The workshop then considered the non-astronomical aspects of these constellations of space telescopes—including buses, launch, and communications—with the goal of reducing costs to the point where telescope time will not only be available to professional astronomers and their graduate students but also to undergraduate and high school students as well as citizen scientists for well-planned research projects with published results. Just as highly economical autonomous operation of networks of ground-based telescopes, such as Las Cumbres Observatory and Skynet, has fostered student and citizen science research, economical autonomous constellations of UV and IR CubeSat and SmallSat telescopes should foster student and citizen science research, helping to “democratize” space. The final session will consider how academic, governmental, and industrial organizations could work together to make these space telescope constellations a reality. The final session will be followed by the AAS evening reception.
Sessions
Saturday, June 11, 2022
Introductions and Overviews
UV Science Programs
Lunch
IR Science Programs
Sensor Technology Advances
Workshop Banquet
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Autonomous Operation
Buses, Launch, and Communications
Lunch
Student and Citizen Science Research
Organizing for the Future
AAS Reception
CubeSat Astronomy in the 2020s
Workshop during the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society
Honolulu, Hawaii, Saturday, January 4, 2020, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Room 301B, Hawaii Convention Center
Organizers
Russell Genet, California Polytechnic State University, 805.438.3305, rgenet@calpoly.edu
Mary Knapp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 617.715.5563, mkanpp@mit.edu
Workshop Synopsis
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Thanks to NASA’s support, an increasing number of CubeSat astronomical research telescopes are in orbit or under development. Over the coming decade, CubeSat astronomical research telescopes—thanks to likely advances in technology, commercial quantity production, and lower launch costs—should help create a synergistic balance between large and small space telescopes similar to what has already been achieved between large and small ground-based robotic telescopes.
Numerous, low-cost CubeSat telescopes could, for instance, not only enhance research opportunities for professional astronomers and their graduate students, but they could also open up research opportunities to undergraduate and high school students as well as citizen scientists. Technology advances over the next decade could provide totally autonomous CubeSat telescope operation, extend their wavelength coverage to the infrared and soft X-ray, and provide larger apertures.
The workshop was organized as four 90-minute sessions: (1) Introduction / Astronomy CubeSats in Orbit, (2) Astronomy CubeSats Under Development, (3) Future Expansion to Student and Citizen Science Research, and (4) Future Advances in CubeSat Telescope Technology. Each session consisted of 15-minute invited PowerPoint talks followed by a 15-minute Panel Discussion / Q&A. Session speakers were the panel members. There was also be two half-hour poster sessions with refreshments.
Agenda
8:30 Session I: Introduction / Astronomy CubeSats in Orbit
The workshop will open with NASA’s summary of the current status and potential future of CubeSats and their larger SmallSats cousins. Astronomy CubeSats currently in orbit will then be described.
8:30 Russ Genet (Cal Poly) and Mary Knapp (MIT), Call to Order and Announcements
8:40 Kevin Iott, PlaneWave Instruments, Welcome from the Workshop’s Sponsor
8:45 Michael Garcia, Science Mission Directorate NASA Headquarters, NASA Astrophysics CubeSats and SmallSats: Current and Future Prospects
9:00 Vanessa Bailey, Jet Propulsion Lab, Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA)
9:15 Christopher Moore, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) CubeSats
9:30 Daniel LaRocca, University of Iowa, HaloSat: Searching for a Hot Baryon Gas Galactic Halo
9:45 Panel discussion Q&A / Moderator: Knapp / Panel members: Garcia, Bailey, Moore, and LaRocca
10:00: Morning Poster Discussions (30 minutes with refreshments)
10:30 Session II: Astronomy CubeSats Under Development
The success of ASTERIA and other astronomy CubeSats in orbit has sparked a second generation of astronomy CubeSats currently under development.
10:30 Kevin France, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE): Exploring Extreme Exoplanets
10:45 Paul Goldsmith, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, COSMMIC - CO Surveyor using an MMIC Low Noise Receiver on a CubeSat
11:00 Paul Scowen, Arizona State University, Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS)
11:15 Mary Knapp, MIT Haystack Observatory, Low-Frequency Radio Observations
11:30 Jeremy Perkins, NASA Goddard SFC, BurstCube: A CubeSat for Gravitational Wave Counterparts
11:45 Panel discussion Q&A / Moderator: Knapp / Panel members: France, Goldsmith, Scowen, and Perkins.
12:00 Lunch (90 minutes)
Session III: Future Expansion to Student and Citizen Science Research
Looking toward a future when astronomy CubeSats will be plentiful, low in cost, and highly capable, we should then be able to extend their use in research from professional astronomers and their graduate students, to undergraduate and high school students as well as citizen scientists.
1:30 Russell Genet, California Polytechnic State University, Robotic Telescopes and Student Research
1:45 Beatrice Millar, Stanford Online High School, Citizen Science with Stanford Online High School
2:00 Rachel Freed, Institute for Student Astronomical Research, Student Astronomical Research - Filling the Void with CubeSats
2:15 Jonathan Arenberg, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Stella Splendida: Building the science and engineering workforce of the 21st Century
2:30 Marc Kuchner, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Building the NASA Citizen Science Community
2:45 Robert Zellem, JPL, and Quinn Perian and Sujay Nair, Stanford Online High School, Exoplanet Transit Timing Initiative
3:00 Panel discussion Q&A / Moderator: Genet / Panel members: Millar, Freed, Arenberg, Kuchner, Zellem, Perian, and Nair
3:15 Afternoon Poster Discussions (30 minutes with refreshments)
3:45 Session IV: Future Advances in CubeSat Telescope Technology
For future constellations of astronomy CubeSats to be affordable, they will need to operate autonomously. Larger apertures and extension of their spectral coverage into the infrared and soft X-rays would increase their scientific value.
3:45 Rashied Amini, Jet Propulsion Lab, Making CubeSats Autonomous - the Easy Way
4:00 Gurmehar Singh, Stanford Online High School, CubeSat Radio Interferometry Space Telescope Array: CRISTA
4:15 Duncan Farrah, University of Hawaii, Extending CubeSat telescopes into the infrared
4:30 David Allred, Brigham Young University, Mirror coatings for EUV and soft X-Ray imaging
4:45 Panel discussion Q&A / Moderator: Genet / Panel members: Amini, Singh, Farrah, Allred, and Sheikh
5:00 Adjourn
Posters
Stanford Online High School Student Posters
Photometric Effects on Astrometry of Close Double Stars, Ryan Caputo, Caroline Wiess, and Kalée Tock
Z-Factor: An Escape-Velocity Metric for Assessing the Likelihood of Gravitational Relationship Between Stars, Zach Haarz and Kalée Tock
Freshening Exoplanet Transit Midpoints, Quinn Perian, Sujay Nair, and Kalée Tock
High-Altitude Ballooning with Stanford Online High School, Kalée Tock
Using Machine Learning to Analyze Pulsar Plots, Gurmehar Singh and Beatrice Millar
Other Posters
Understanding the High-Energy Radiation Emission of Low-Mass Stars: Constructing Stellar Models Using SPARCS Photometry, Sarah Peacock (1), Travis Barman (2), Evgenya Shkolnik (3), David Ardila (4), Matthew Beasley (5), Judd Bowmane (3), Johnathan Gamaunt (3), Dawn Gregory (6), Valentin Ivanitski (6), Daniel Jacobs (3), Logan Jensen (3), April Jewell (4), Joe Llama (7), Victoria Meadows (8), Shouleh Nikzad (9), Mary Osmond Juelfse (3), Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa (3), Paul Scowen (3), Nathaniel Struebele (3), Mark Swain (4)
(1) University of Arizona, (2) Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona, (3) Arizona State University, (4) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, (5) Southwest Research Institute, (6) AZ Space Technologies, (7) Lowell Observatory, (8) University of Washington
Battery-Powered In-Space Reflective Coating Technology, David Sheikh, ZeCoat Corporation
Stanford Online High School Students Giving Presentations
Stanford Online High School students giving presentations (left to right):
Beatrice Millar, Elias Koubaa, Gurmehar Singh, Quinn Perian, and Sujay Nair
University of Hawaii Undergraduate Student Participants
From left to right:
Keenan Lee, Spencer Young, Kevin Williams, and Jami Stout
Panels
1. Astronomy CubeSats in Orbit (left to right):
Michael Garcia, Vanessa Bailey, Daniel LaRocca, and Christopher Moore
2. Astronomy CubeSats Under Development (left to right):
Paul Goldsmith, Paul Scowen, Kevin France, and Jeremy Perkins
3. Future Expansion to Student and Citizen Science Research (left to right):
Beatrice Millar, Rachel Freed, Sujay Nair, Quinn Perian, Robert Zellem, Mark Kuchner, and Jonathan Arenberg
4. Future Advances in CubeSat Telescope Technology (left to right):
Gurmehar Singh, Duncan Farrah, Rashied Amini, and David Allred
Student Space Telescope Network
Conceptual Study 2018
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Alex Johnson, Charles Van Steenwyk, and Russell Genet California Polytechnic State University David Rowe PlaneWave Instruments
Astro2020: Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics, APC white papers, no. 51 Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 51, Issue 7, id. 51 (2019)
Endorsers
Rashied Amini, Jet Propulsion Labroratory
David Ardila, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Lorraine Fesq, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Kyle Hughes, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Evgenya Shkolnik, Arizona State University
Authors & Co-Authors
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Russell Genet, California Polytechnic State University
Jonathan Arenberg, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
Howard Banich, Alt-Az Initiative
Mel Bartels, Alt-Az Initiative
Richard Berry, Alt-Az Initiative
Pat Boyce, Boyce Research Initiatives and Education Foundation
Rebecca Chamberlin, The Evergreen State College
Ralph Emerson, PlaneWave Instruments
Christopher Estrada, Institute for Student Astronomical Research
Reed Estrada, Northrop Aviation
Rachel Freed, Institute for Student Astronomical Research
Cheryl Genet, Cuesta College
Edward Gomez, Las Cumbres Observatory
Dan Gray, Sidereal Technology
Joe Haberman, PlaneWave Instruments
Richard Harshaw, Brilliant Sky Observatory
Gregory Henry, Tennessee State University
Alex Johnson, California Polytechnic State University
Jolyon Johnson, Newton High School
Richard Hedrick, PlaneWave Instruments
Greg Jones, Alt-Az Initiative
John Kenney, Concordia University
Mary Knapp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Creon Levit, Planet Labs
Tong Lui, Hubble Optics
David Rowe, PlaneWave Instruments
John Ridgely, California Polytechnic State University
Jenny Shih, University of Hawaii Maui College
Thomas Smith, Dark Ridge Observatory
Kalee Tock, Stanford Online High School
Charles Van Steenwyk, California Polytechnic State University
Vera Wallen, Education Consultant
Abstract
A 2020s CubeSat astronomical telescope revolution could evolve small space telescopes from their current nascent state, to becoming a major contributor to astronomical research,similar to the evolution of small ground telescopes. The same inclusive community of practice facilitated processthat resulted in small ground telescopes becoming full research partners could be emulated in the development of small space telescopes. The ground-breaking ASTERIA, SPARCS, and CUTE CubeSat telescopes are pointing the way. Four programs could enhance this evolutionary process:
(1) developing a CubeSat autonomous telescope constellation for astronomical research,
(2) advancing CubeSat telescope technology,
(3) encouraging CubeSat telescope one-offs, kits, and commercial ventures, and
(4) nurturing an inclusive and supportive CubeSat telescope community of practice. By the end of the decade, CubeSat telescopes could open up the direct use of space telescopes for astronomical research to a large number of professional astronomers, citizen scientists, and students.