The cusp plasma imaging detector (CuPID) cubesat observatory: Instrumentation

Emil Atz; Brian Walsh; Connor O'Brien; Michael Collier; Ariel Berman; Lisa Billingsley; J Bernard Blake; Jeffery Broll; Dennis Chornay; William Crain; Thompson Cragwell; Norman Dobson; Joseph Kujawski; Kip Kuntz; Van Naldoza; Rousseau Nutter; F Scott Porter; David Sibeck; Kenneth Simms; Nicholas Thomas; Drew Turner; Allan Weatherwax; Ajmal Yousuff; Aleks Zosuls

doi:10.1063/5.0085534

The cusp plasma imaging detector (CuPID) cubesat observatory: Instrumentation

Rev Sci Instrum. 2022 Jun 1;93(6):064504. doi: 10.1063/5.0085534.

Authors

Emil Atz¹, Brian Walsh¹, Connor O'Brien¹, Michael Collier², Ariel Berman³, Lisa Billingsley², J Bernard Blake³, Jeffery Broll¹, Dennis Chornay², William Crain³, Thompson Cragwell¹, Norman Dobson², Joseph Kujawski⁴, Kip Kuntz⁵, Van Naldoza¹, Rousseau Nutter¹, F Scott Porter², David Sibeck², Kenneth Simms², Nicholas Thomas², Drew Turner⁶, Allan Weatherwax⁷, Ajmal Yousuff⁴, Aleks Zosuls¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Space Physics, College of Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
² NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA.
³ The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, California 90245, USA.
⁴ Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
⁵ The Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21210, USA.
⁶ Space Exploration Sector, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland 20723, USA.
⁷ Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts 01845, USA.

PMID: 35778053
DOI: 10.1063/5.0085534

Abstract

The Cusp Plasma Imaging Detector (CuPID) CubeSat observatory is a 6U CubeSat designed to observe solar wind charge exchange in magnetospheric cusps to test competing theories of magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause. The CuPID is equipped with three instruments, namely, a wide field-of-view (4.6° × 4.6°) soft x-ray telescope, a micro-dosimeter suite, and an engineering magnetometer optimized for the science operation. The instrument suite has been tested and calibrated in relevant environments, demonstrating successful design. The testing and calibration of these instruments produced metrics and coefficients that will be used to create the CuPID mission's data product.