Statement of work (SOW) for gtosat: a 6U cubesat in geosynchronous transfer orbit to study radiation belt dynamics a proposal to be submitted to NASA S heliophysics technology and instrument…

This is a $800,975 grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to The Aerospace Corporation, a federally funded research and development center, for the GTOSAT mission. GTOSAT is a 4-year, 6U CubeSat project with the primary goal of advancing the scientific understanding of acceleration and loss of relativistic electrons in the Earth's outer radiation belt. The Aerospace Corporation is responsible for developing an energetic particle instrument to observe electrons in the 200 keV to 2 MeV energy range, which will be used on the GTOSAT spacecraft to measure electron spectra and pitch angles. This grant is part of NASA's Heliophysics Technology and Instrument Development for Science (H-TIDES) program and does not involve any set-aside designations.

Statement of work (SOW) for gtosat: a 6U cubesat in geosynchronous transfer orbit to study radiation belt dynamics a proposal to be submitted to NASA S heliophysics technology and instrument development for science (H-TIDES) opportunity period of performance: 01 FEB 2018 - 31 JAN 2022 (4 years total) aerospace is partnering as a CO-investigator (COI) institute with NASA goddard space flight center to propose a 4-year 6U cubesat mission with the primary science goal of advancing our quantitative understanding of acceleration and loss of relativistic electrons in the earth S outer radiation belt. From a near-equatorial geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), gtosat will measure electron spectra and pitch angles of both the seed and the energized electron populations simultaneously, using an innovative, compact energetic particle detector. A boom-mounted fluxgate magnetometer will provide 3-axis knowledge of the ambient local magnetic field. These high quality particle and field measurements enable direct measurement of spectral and pitch angle evolution of the outer radiation belt and calculation of physically significant quantities, such as phase space density (PSD) and its radial gradients, which are necessary to discriminate between radial transport and in-situ modes of electron energization. Gtosat will fly in a highly elliptical GTO, with nominal apogee near 6.6 RE. A likely offequatorial inclination means gtosat will sample the particle dynamics of the outer radiation belt beyond 6.6 RE, well beyond the van allen probes, providing two radial profiles of the radiation belts every orbit (~11 hours). Aerospace will be responsible for a hardware deliverable for this project: the energetic particle instrument that will be used to observe electrons in the energy range from 200 KEV to 2 MEV. In addition to the funding required for that development and delivery, aerospace S funded contribution will also consist of consultation during the mission and spacecraft development, expertise on earth's outer radiation belt electrons, and scientific analysis for the data set after IT is produced. The particle telescope to be developed by aerospace will be a near identical copy of the mageis medium flight instrument developed for NASA S van allen probes. Throughout the development of the mission and instruments, aerospace scientists and engineers will participate in team meetings and design reviews. Aerospace scientists will also serve on the gtosat science team and contribute to in flight calibrations and data analysis of gtosat data after launch and dissemination of gtosat results to the greater scientific community. Work breakdown: year 1: design of instrument year 2: manufacture, calibrate, test, and deliver instrument year 3: operations support year 4: science team effort, data analysis and dissemination