The BRITE Constellation nanosatellite mission: Testing, commissioning and operations
Abstract
BRITE (BRIght Target Explorer) Constellation, the first nanosatellite mission applied to astrophysical research, is a collaboration among Austria, Canada and Poland. The fleet of satellites (6 launched, 5 functioning) performs precise optical photometry of the brightest stars in the night sky. A pioneering mission like BRITE - with optics and instruments restricted to small volume, mass and power in several nanosatellites, whose measurements must be coordinated in orbit - poses many unique challenges. We discuss the technical issues, including problems encountered during on-orbit commissioning (especially higher-than expected sensitivity of the CCDs to particle radiation). We describe in detail how the BRITE team has mitigated these problems, and provide a complete overview of mission operations. This paper serves as a template for how to effectively plan, build and operate future low-cost niche-driven space astronomy missions.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1608.00282,
title = {The BRITE Constellation nanosatellite mission: Testing, commissioning and operations},
author = {H. Pablo and G. N. Whittaker and A. Popowicz and S. M. Mochnacki and R. Kuschnig and C. C. Grant and A. F. J. Moffat and S. M. Rucinski and J. M. Matthews and A. Schwarzenberg-Czerny and G. Handler and W. W. Weiss and D. Baade and G. A. Wade and E. Zoclonska and T. Ramiaramanantsoa and M. Unterberger and K. Zwintz and A. Pigulski and J. Rowe and O. Koudelka and P. Orleanski and A. Pamyatnykh and C. Neiner and R. Wawrzaszek and G. Marciniszyn and P. Romano and G. Wozniak and T. Zawistowski and R. E. Zee},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.00282},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
54 pages, 12 figures, accepted by PASP