NASA approves Ohio State-led satellite for space launch
Joel Johnson, chair and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State, leads the development of NASA’s CubeSat Radiometer Radio Frequency Interference Technology Validation (CubeRRT) project. The project received $5.6 million from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in 2015 to further advance RFI reduction technology.
As humans expand their technological presence across the globe, the growth of manmade radio transmissions is making it increasingly difficult to detect Earth's microwave radiation, which is used to study atmospheric water vapor or soil moisture from space. This has required new advancements in radio frequency interference (RFI) technology to help separate manmade signals from the natural.
Johnson and his team specialize in such technology. Ohio State is the only national university leading one of the four selected projects for NASA’s In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies, or InVEST, and is working in partnership with investigators from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
NASA explained CubeRRT will help “observe, detect, and mitigate RFI” to better allow microwave radiometers to measure the Earth’s properties for climate science.
Johnson said he expects the CubeRRT launch could happen in 2018.
“If successful, CubeRRT technologies will address gaps in existing RFI mitigation technologies to increase the amount of high quality radiometer data collected by future Earth observing missions,” NASA explained.
The Ohio State program is part of a larger NASA CubeSat initiative. Designed to test new technologies in space, CubeSats are satellites that range from being small enough to fit in the palm of the hand to the size of a large shoebox. NASA is exploring new launch options through the commercial small spacecraft industry in order to fast track many of these technologies.
To take advantage of the space-bound opportunities these small satellites offer, the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), part of NASA’s Earth Science Division, selected four new projects to be developed, built and launched into low-Earth orbit to test emerging technologies that could enable new and improved understandings of the planet.
Small satellites, including CubeSats, are playing an increasingly larger role in exploration, technology demonstration, scientific research and educational investigations at NASA. They provide a low-cost platform for NASA missions, including planetary space exploration, Earth observations, fundamental Earth and space science, and developing precursor science instruments like cutting-edge laser communications, satellite-to-satellite communications and autonomous movement capabilities.
“These quick-turnaround projects, once validated, have the potential to improve and supplement Earth science observations available to researchers worldwide covering topics from weather to climate, and soil moisture to land use,” NASA reports.
“Most Earth science phenomena measurements can be improved by sustained observations with increased spatial and temporal resolution. Validating these new compact instrument subsystems today will enable the relevant constellation measurements of the future,” said Charles Norton, an ESTO program associate with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech.
Other new InVEST CubeSat selections for launch include one from Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. and two from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The four newly-selected CubeSats, each measuring 10 by 20 by 30 centimeters, received funding through a recent solicitation held by InVEST. Total funding for these four projects over their first year of development is approximately $9 million. Each satellite is being built and launched in approximately two to three years and should be operational in space for anywhere from three to 12 months.
The InVEST program, managed by ESTO, focuses on the challenges of space-based Earth observations and demonstrates and provides technologies from instruments and components to information systems that can be used on a variety of platforms and can be reliably applied to a broad range of Earth science measurement and mission needs.
by Ryan Horns, Electrical and Computer Engineering; edited by college communications staff
