The primary mission for the cubesat is to measure the temperature of a small metallic object coated with the cryogenic selective surface coating in space. These are the primary science requirements…

This contract was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center to Ai Solutions Inc. to develop a CubeSat satellite to measure the temperature of a metallic object coated with a cryogenic selective surface in space. The key objectives are to provide adequate shielding from Earth's albedo radiation and the satellite's own heat generation, maintain the coated sample's orientation towards deep space, and measure the sample and satellite structure temperatures. This $514,784.12 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order contract has a completion date of September 30, 2022 and does not utilize a set-aside. Ai Solutions Inc. is an engineering services and products company that provides support for space mission planning, design, and operations, with extensive experience in spacecraft modeling, flight dynamics analyses, and hardware development for civil, commercial, and defense customers.

The primary mission for the cubesat is to measure the temperature of a small metallic object coated with the cryogenic selective surface coating in space. These are the primary science requirements for the cubesat system. The cubesat shall provide adequate shielding from earths albedo radiation and from the heat generated by the cubesat itself using such that the coated sample is not adversely heated. The cubesat shall include a method of attaching the sample to the cubesat such that minimal heat is conducted to the sample under test. The cubesat shall maintain orientation of the coated sample toward deep space. Two temperature sensors per each sample where one shall be used to measure the sample temperature located in the small metallic object under the coating and the other shall be used to measure the temperature of the wall and structure closest to the sample. Hundreds of papers have been published on designing surfaces that reflect one wavelength range while absorbing another in order to achieve significant temperature increases or decreases of these surfaces in sunlight. The majority of this work was devoted to achieving high temperatures to support, for example, solar furnace operation, but a significant portion was directed to cooling. Coatings have been developed to allow a surface in sunlight to cool below ambient, but atmospheric limitations, infrared transmission windows and convective warming, prevent significant cooling. However, hibbard, of the lewis research center, realized that in space, away from these atmospheric limitations, that significantly greater cooling could be achieved. Since then, a significant amount of testing has been completed on many different coating materials. The results of this testing show that when combined with multi-layer insulation to shield from earth radiation, IT should be possible to passively cool a component to significantly low temperatures. These temperatures should be enough to passively store cryogens in space for an extended period of time. Cubesats recently have become popular in the scientific community. Cubesat is a type of spacecraft that typically uses commercial, off-the-shelf electronic components in a scalable cubesat form factor with a mass of one KG and a volume of ten cubic centimeters. These small form factor satellites provide a low cost option to perform scientific research and demonstrate new space technologies in orbit.