NSF Selects CubeSat To Observe Radio Auroras

摘要

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected a collaborative small-satellite mission that will study radio auroras in the Earth's ionosphere. Titled "CubeSat-based Ground-to-Space Bistatic Radar Experiment-Radio Aurora Explorer," the project is ajoint effort of Hasan Bahcivan of SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif., and James Cutler of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The NSF selected the proposal Aug. 26. The total award amounts to $891,582 over three years for the "development of the satellite and the science payload, ground station operation, and scientific data analysis," Therese Moretto Jorgensen, program director in the Upper Atmospheric Research Section of NSF's Geosciences Directorate division of Atmospheric Sciences, said in an Aug. 28 e-mail.