Principal Investigator Kerri Cahoy
Using CubeSats as a platform for technology demonstrations for Earth observing and astronomical instrumentation. Focus areas include nanosatellite and ground communication systems and evolution from single CubeSats into clusters and constellations. Currently, Prof. Cahoy is leading the bus and subsystem development of the Microsized Microwave Atmospheric Satellite (MicroMAS), a 3U dual-spinning CubeSat. The 2U bus will support a scanning 1U microwave radiometer payload built by MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Integration and test is expected to be complete by Summer 2013. MicroMAS has been selected for a NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites launch opportunity and is awaiting manifest.
Professor Cahoy supported the MIT student team entry in the University Nanosatellite Program Competition 7 from 2011-2013, sponsored by the Air Force Office of Sponsored Research. The goal of the team’s ESPA-class student microsatellite, the Trapped Energetic Radiation Satellite (TERSat) is to use very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic radiation in LEO to interact with the charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field in the Van Allen Radiation Belts. The 5-meter TERSat VLF antenna consists of two 2.5 meter deployable antennas. Characterization of one of the 2.5 m antennas during deployment in microgravity was selected for a 2013 NASA parabolic flight opportunity.
In addition, Professor Cahoy is collaborating with Aurora Flight Sciences on the development of a cluster of CubeSats for distributed radio remote sensing. Prof. Cahoy is also developing a CubeSat wavefront control technology demonstration payload called the Deformable Mirror Demonstration in collaboration with several others in the astronomy community.