Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor (CEASE) Flight Integration Support Contract

The outer space environment experienced by a modern, electronically sophisticated spacecraft can be very hostile due to interactions between its complex, sensitive electronics systems and the naturally occurring energetic particle population indigenous to the solar system. The Compact Environmental Anomaly System (CEASE) has been developed as a small, low-power device to monitor space 'weather' and to provide autonomous warnings of conditions that may cause operational anomalies in the host spacecraft. CEASE uses a two-element, solid-state telescope and two radiation dosimeters to sample critical energetic particle fluxes and uses a sophisticated real-time processing program that can forecast hazardous conditions before they affect the spacecraft. The spacecraft, in turn, can re-prioritize its operations, inhibit any anomaly sensitive operations such as attitude adjustments, or take any other prudent actions suggested by the potential for dangerous conditions.