Preprint has been published in a journal as an article
DOI of the published article https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2024.07.008
Preprint / Version 2

Remote Sensing of Electron Precipitation Mechanisms Enabled by ELFIN Mission Operations and ADCS Design

##article.authors##

  • Ethan Tsai UCLA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8697-6789
  • Akhil Palla UCLA EPSS
  • Austin Norris UCLA EPSS
  • James King UCLA EPSS
  • Cindy Russell UCLA EPSS
  • Sophie Ye UCLA EPSS
  • Jiashu Wu UCLA EPSS
  • Jason Mao UCLA EPSS
  • Sharvani Jha UCLA EPSS
  • Chanel Young UCLA EPSS
  • Graham Wing UCLA EPSS
  • Kevin Lian UCLA EPSS
  • Aiden Szeto UCLA EPSS
  • James Shiffer UCLA EPSS
  • Rishi Sankar UCLA EPSS
  • Kaivalya Tota UCLA EPSS
  • Annie Liu UCLA EPSS
  • Derek Lee UCLA EPSS
  • Uma Patil UCLA EPSS
  • Isabella He UCLA EPSS
  • Jonathan Tam UCLA EPSS
  • Alex McDermott UCLA EPSS
  • Katrina Le UCLA EPSS
  • Suyash Kumar UCLA EPSS https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4427-4831
  • Kelly Nguyen UCLA EPSS
  • Michelle Nguyen UCLA EPSS
  • Chen Yap UCLA EPSS
  • Erica Xie UCLA EPSS
  • James Tseng UCLA EPSS
  • Laura Iglesias UCLA EPSS
  • Alexandra Roosnovo UCLA EPSS
  • Wynne Turner UCLA EPSS https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3418-5599
  • Reed Curtis Nyheim Plasma Institute, Drexel University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1156-0084
  • Colin Wilkins UCLA EPSS
  • Emmanuel Masongsong UCLA EPSS
  • Ryan Caron UCLA EPSS
  • Xiao-Jia Zhang Department of Physics, UT Dallas
  • Anton Artemyev UCLA EPSS
  • Vassilis Angelopoulos UCLA EPSS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31224/3487

Keywords:

elfin, cubesat, Spacecraft Operations, space weather, attitude control

Abstract

The Electron Loss and Fields INvestigation (ELFIN) mission comprising two 3U+ CubeSats was developed, built, and operated by several generations of undergraduate students at UCLA. The spin-stabilized CubeSats (spin-rate: 21 RPM) produced high-resolution measurements of precipitating, trapped, and backscattered fluxes of electrons and ions in the radiation belts. Launched in September 2018, ELFIN operated successfully until its deorbit just over four years later. At first, however, mission operations was very challenging and only tapped the full mission potential after a thorough redesign of the operations paradigm. This mid-mission adjustment yielded the higher data downlink volume necessary to acquire a comprehensive data set, therefore enabling ensemble studies with sufficient statistical significance. The new operational framework also led to additional improvements across the mission. Most notably, the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) benefited from more reliable collections of magnetometer data for attitude determination, enabling knowledge and control to < 1o. This allowed high pitch-angle resolution (especially within the loss cone) and high energy resolution spectrograms, both powerful diagnostics of radiation belt electron and ion precipitation. This paper highlights the scientific advancements made possible by ELFIN's efficient mission operations and ADCS design, unique for CubeSats, and emphasizes the role of electron precipitation measurements for future studies in magnetospheric, ionospheric, and atmospheric physics.

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Posted

2024-01-22 — Updated on 2024-03-19

Versions

Version justification

This paper has been revised to be submitted to a more appropriate journal, Advances in Space Research: Science and Applied Research with Small Satellites.