The University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded $2.2 million from NASA for initial studies on four instrument packages designed to better understand how the sun interacts with Earth聮s radiation environment.
The four projects that CU-Boulder has been funded to participate in are of interest to NASA because near-Earth space radiation is hazardous to astronauts, orbiting satellites and even aircraft flying high-altitude polar routes. The four projects -- part of NASA聮s Living with a Star Program -- are expected to be worth tens of millions of dollars to the university in the coming years, said Daniel Baker, director of CU-Boulder聮s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.
聯By winning all four proposals submitted to this program, I聮d have to say it has been a pretty good day for LASP and the university,聰 said Baker. 聯This shows that NASA is very interested in what we believe is some exciting and compelling science, and shows the practical utility of our space research.聰
LASP will receive two separate allocations totaling almost $500,000 for initial studies to build instruments for NASA聮s Radiation Belt Storm Probe, or RBSP mission. RBSP is a two-spacecraft constellation slated for launch in 2012. The radiation belt consists of doughnut-shaped bands of charged particles trapped by Earth聮s magnetic field.
LASP will provide several key instruments for a suite of particle detection instruments being developed by Boston University and will receive about $384,000 for the initial study. Baker, lead investigator on the high-energy electron detector on board the RBSP probes, said the satellites will determine how solar storms affect energetic electrons and ions in Earth聮s radiation belt.
The second award to LASP as part of RBSP is an initial allocation of $98,000 for the Electrical Fields and Search Coil Investigation, or EFSCI, to study the electrical fields in space that energize radiation particles and modify the structure of the inner magnetosphere. Headed up by the University of Minnesota, the electrical fields investigation is led by LASP聮s Robert Ergun and is projected to be worth $3 million to $4 million to CU-Boulder in the coming years, Baker said.
LASP also received $1 million for a proposal to design and build several instruments to fly on the Mission of Opportunity Radbelt Experiment, or MORE. The experiment will fly on a Canadian satellite that will supplement NASA聮s RBSP Program. LASP researchers Xinlin Li, Scot Elkington and Shrikanth Kanekal will play key roles in the MORE program, said Baker.
The MORE mission satellite will study how accumulations of space radiation form and change during geomagnetic space storms that can block out communications over entire continents and disrupt global navigation systems, he said.
LASP also has proposed to conduct mission operations for MORE at the Space Technology Building at the CU Research Park, said Baker. Baker said he expects the MORE mission to be worth an estimated $43 million to the university after the mission reaches flight status.
In addition, LASP was funded for a $750,000 Phase I Study for the Global-scale Observations of Limb and Disk, or GOLD mission. GOLD is a remote-sensing instrument package designed to fly on a commercial satellite to make measurements of the ionosphere and the thermosphere, said Baker.
The LASP portion of the GOLD mission -- projected to be worth $37.9 million to CU-Boulder in the coming years -- is led by Senior Research Associate David Rusch. The GOLD mission is headed up by Central Florida State University.
In 2002, NASA selected LASP to design and build a $29 million instrument package for a satellite known as the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, as part of the Living with a Star Program. Slated to launch in 2008, SDO will study extreme ultraviolet radiation emanating from the sun.