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www.southgatearc.org
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University awarded $840,000 for satelliteThe University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded $840,000 from the National Science Foundation for students to build a tiny spacecraft to observe energetic particles in space that should give scientists a better understanding of solar flares and their interaction with Earth's atmosphere. The three-year grant to CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and the aerospace engineering sciences department involves the development of a 5-pound, loaf of bread-sized spacecraft carrying a miniature instrument package to observe energetic particles tied to "space weather" in the near-Earth environment. CU-Boulder graduate students working with CU-Boulder faculty and LASP scientists and engineers will develop, integrate and test the experiment as well as conduct subsequent mission operations and data analysis. Known as the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment, or CSSWE, the instruments package is expected to weigh less than 5 pounds. Data from the mission will be combined with information from other space weather missions, said Professor Xinlin Li of LASP and the aerospace engineering sciences department. Li is the principal investigator for the CU-Boulder project. "Education is a central part of the CSSWE program," said Li. "This is a unique, hands-on learning experience for graduate students who will benefit through their extensive interactions with faculty and staff here at LASP." Data from the CSSWE mission will shed light on the electrons trapped in the Earth's magnetosphere, often referred to as "killer electrons" because of their impact on spacecraft subsystems and on astronauts in space. Gaining knowledge about such electrons will help scientists understand how the particles accelerate to speeds that are dangerous to spacecraft and humans, said Li.
Other Colorado Satellite Projects: DANDE Hermes
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