{"id":20925,"date":"2018-02-04T13:17:48","date_gmt":"2018-02-04T13:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/punjabnews24.com\/?p=20925"},"modified":"2018-02-04T13:20:43","modified_gmt":"2018-02-04T13:20:43","slug":"nasas-small-spacecraft-produces-first-883-gigahertz-global-ice-cloud-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/nasas-small-spacecraft-produces-first-883-gigahertz-global-ice-cloud-map\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Small Spacecraft Produces First 883-Gigahertz Global Ice-Cloud Map"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The bread loaf-sized IceCube was deployed from the International Space Station in May. One month later, it began science operations gathering global data about atmospheric ice clouds in the submillimeter wavelengths.<\/p>\n<p>A bread loaf-sized satellite has produced the world\u2019s first map of the global distribution of atmospheric ice in the 883-Gigahertz band, an important frequency in the submillimeter wavelength for studying cloud ice and its effect on Earth\u2019s climate.<br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- punjabnews24 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6565419310935097\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"6948863062\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>IceCube \u2014 the diminutive spacecraft that deployed from the International Space Station in May 2017\u2014 has demonstrated-in-space a commercial 883-Gigahertz radiometer developed by Virginia Diodes Inc., or VDI, of Charlottesville, Virginia, under a NASA Small Business Innovative Research contract. It is capable of measuring critical atmospheric cloud ice properties at altitudes between 3-9 miles (5 Km-15 Km).<\/p>\n<p>NASA scientists pioneered the use of submillimeter wavelength bands, which fall between the microwave and infrared on the electromagnetic spectrum, to sense ice clouds. However, until IceCube, these instruments had flown only aboard high-altitude research aircraft. This meant scientists could gather data only in areas over which the aircraft flew.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith IceCube, scientists now have a working submillimeter radiometer system in space at a commercial price,\u201d said Dong Wu, a scientist and IceCube principal investigator at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cMore importantly, it provides a global view on Earth\u2019s cloud-ice distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- punjabnews24 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6565419310935097\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"6948863062\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\nSensing atmospheric cloud ice requires scientists deploy instruments tuned to a broad range of frequency bands. However, it\u2019s particularly important to fly submillimeter sensors. This wavelength fills a significant data gap in the middle and upper troposphere where ice clouds are often too opaque for infrared and visible sensors to penetrate. It also reveals data about the tiniest ice particles that can\u2019t be detected clearly in other microwave bands.<\/p>\n<p>The Technical Challenge<\/p>\n<p>IceCube\u2019s map is a first of its kind and bodes well for future space-based observations of global ice clouds using submillimeter-wave technology, said Wu, whose team built the spacecraft using funding from NASA\u2019s Earth Science Technology Office\u2019s (ESTO) In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies (InVEST) program and NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate CubeSat Initiative. The team\u2019s challenge was making sure the commercial receiver was sensitive enough to detect and measure atmospheric cloud ice using as little power as possible.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- punjabnews24 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6565419310935097\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"6948863062\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\nUltimately, the agency wants to infuse this type of receiver into an ice-cloud imaging radiometer for NASA\u2019s proposed Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystems, or ACE, mission. Recommended by the National Research Council, ACE would assess on a daily basis the global distribution of ice clouds, which affect the Earth\u2019s emission of infrared energy into space and its reflection and absorption of the Sun\u2019s energy over broad areas. Before IceCube, this value was highly uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt speaks volumes that our scientists are doing science with a mission that primarily was supposed to demonstrate technology,\u201d said Jared Lucey, one of IceCube\u2019s instrument engineers. He was one of only a handful of scientists and engineers at Goddard and NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia who developed IceCube in just two years. \u201cWe met our mission goals and now everything else is bonus,\u201d he said.<br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- punjabnews24 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6565419310935097\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"6948863062\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Multiple Lessons Learned<\/p>\n<p>In addition to demonstrating submillimeter-wave observations from space, the team gained important insights into how to efficiently develop a CubeSat mission, determining which systems to make redundant and which tests to forgo because of limited funds and a short schedule, said Jaime Esper, IceCube\u2019s mission systems designer and technical project manager at Goddard.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- punjabnews24 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6565419310935097\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"6948863062\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t an easy task,\u201d said Negar Ehsan, IceCube\u2019s instrument system lead. \u201cIt was a low-budget project\u201d that required the team to develop both an engineering test unit and a flight model in a relatively short period of time. In spite of the challenges, the team delivered the VDI-provided instrument on time and budget. \u201cWe demonstrated for the first time 883-Gigahertz observations in space and proved that the VDI-provided system works appropriately,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team used commercial off-the-shelf components, including VDI\u2019s radiometer. The components came from multiple commercial providers and didn\u2019t always work together harmoniously, requiring engineering. The team not only integrated the radiometer to the spacecraft, but also built spacecraft ground-support systems and conducted thermal-vacuum, vibration, and antenna testing at Goddard and Wallops.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- punjabnews24 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6565419310935097\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"6948863062\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\n\u201cIceCube isn\u2019t perfect,\u201d Wu conceded, referring to noise or slight errors in the radiometer\u2019s data. \u201cHowever, we can make a scientifically useful measurement. We came away with a lot of lessons learned from this CubeSat project, and next time engineers can build it much more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a different mission model for NASA,\u201d Wu continued. \u201cOur principal goal was to show this small mission could be done. The question was, could we can get useful science and advance space technology with a low-cost CubeSat developed under an effective government-commercial partnership. I believe the answer is yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Small satellites, including CubeSats, are playing an increasingly larger role in exploration, technology demonstration, scientific research and educational investigations at NASA, 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.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- punjabnews24 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6565419310935097\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"6948863062\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\nNASA ESTO supports InVEST missions like IceCube and technologies at NASA centers, industry and academia to develop, refine and demonstrate new methods for observing Earth from space, from information systems to new components and instruments.<\/p>\n<p>Credit : Lori Keesey<br \/>\nNASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The bread loaf-sized IceCube was deployed from the International Space Station in May. One month later, it began science operations gathering global data about atmospheric ice clouds in the submillimeter wavelengths. A bread loaf-sized satellite has produced the world\u2019s first map of the global distribution of atmospheric ice in the 883-Gigahertz band, an important frequency [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[413,321,315],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-tech","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20925"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20928,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20925\/revisions\/20928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}