1. The BRITE Constellation nanosatellite mission: Testing, commissioning and operations
- Author
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Pablo, H., Whittaker, G. N., Popowicz, A., Mochnacki, S. M., Kuschnig, R., Grant, C. C., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Matthews, J. M., Schwarzenberg-Czerny, A., Handler, G., Weiss, W. W., Baade, D., Wade, G. A., Zoclonska, E., Ramiaramanantsoa, T., Unterberger, M., Zwintz, K., Pigulski, A., Rowe, J., Koudelka, O., Orleanski, P., Pamyatnykh, A., Neiner, C., Wawrzaszek, R., Marciniszyn, G., Romano, P., Wozniak, G., Zawistowski, T., and Zee, R. E.
- Subjects
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics - 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., Comment: 54 pages, 12 figures, accepted by PASP
- Published
- 2016
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