CUBESATS - SCI &
TECH
News: Rocket Lab launches NASA
cubesat to study heat lost from Earth's poles
What's in the news?
●
NASA, in collaboration with the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, launched the first of two CubeSats to study heat emissions
at Earth's poles.
Key takeaways:
●
This was part of NASA'S PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed
Experiment) mission.
CubeSats:
●
CubeSats are a class of nanosatellites that adhere to a standardised size and form factor,
making them a popular choice for space research and technology missions.
Origin:
●
It was developed in 1999 by California Polytechnic
State University and Stanford University initially as educational tools.
Purpose of CubeSats:
●
Conducting scientific
research.
●
Demonstrating new technologies.
●
Testing advanced mission concepts involving
constellations, swarms, and disaggregated systems.
Size of a CubeSat:
●
1U CubeSat: 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm
●
Larger configurations scale up to 12U, which would
measure approximately 10 cm x 10 cm x 120 cm.
Mass of a CubeSat:
The mass of a CubeSat can vary:
●
A 1U CubeSat typically weighs up to 1.33 kg.
●
Larger CubeSats (up to 12U) can weigh between 3 kg
and 32 kg, depending on their size and the equipment they carry.
Launching CubeSats:
●
It is being launched as a secondary payload on
various launch vehicles.
Go back to basics:
NASA's PREFIRE Mission:
●
The Polar
Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) is focused on
examining the thermal infrared energy emissions from Earth's polar regions,
particularly the Arctic and Antarctica.
Importance of the
Mission:
1. Climate Regulation:
●
The polar regions are integral to global climate
regulation, yet 60% of their heat emissions occur in the far-infrared range,
which has been inadequately measured due to technological and logistical
limitations.
2. Heat Loss Mechanisms:
●
By providing detailed insights into the mechanisms
of heat loss in the polar regions, PREFIRE will help clarify why the Arctic,
for instance, is warming more than twice as fast as the global average.
Features:
●
Each of the PREFIRE satellites is designed as a CubeSat.
●
Each satellite in the PREFIRE mission is a 6U
CubeSat, measuring about 90 cm in height and nearly 120 cm in width when solar
panels are deployed.
●
These CubeSats are equipped with thermal infrared spectrometers specifically
developed to measure far-infrared energy radiated from Earth's surface and
atmosphere.
Orbit:
●
The satellites will operate in asynchronous, near-polar orbits, enabling comprehensive coverage
and measurement across both the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
○
These regions play a critical role in the Earth's climate system by radiating
heat absorbed from the tropics back into space.
Significance:
● PREFIRE aims to address significant gaps in our understanding of this process by measuring the amount of heat radiated into space from the poles, with a specific focus on far-infrared wavelengths (longer than 15 micrometres).