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Team Miles
Mission type Technology demonstration
Website team.miles-space.com
Mission duration1 year, 4 months and 12 days (in orbit)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftTeam Miles
Spacecraft type CubeSat
Bus 6U CubeSat
ManufacturerFluid and Reason, LLC.
Launch mass14 kg (31 lb)
Dimensions10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm
Start of mission
Launch date16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC [1]
Rocket SLS Block 1
Launch site KSC, LC-39B
Contractor NASA
Orbital parameters
Reference system Heliocentric orbit
Flyby of Moon
Transponders
Band S-band
NASA CubeQuest Challenge
 

Team Miles was a 6U CubeSat that was to demonstrate navigation in deep space using innovative plasma thrusters. It was also to test a software-defined radio operating in the S-band for communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth. Team Miles was one of ten CubeSats launched with the Artemis 1 mission into a heliocentric orbit in cislunar space on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), that took place on 16 November 2022. [1] [2] Team Miles was deployed but contact was not established with the spacecraft. [3]

Overview

Parameter Units/performance
Thrust 5 mN
Specific impulse (Isp) 760 seconds
Impulse 7456 N seconds
Power 22 watts
Wet mass 1.5 kg
Propellant mass 1 kg
Propellant Solid iodine
Thrust:Mass 3.3 mN/kg
Impulse:Power 338 N seconds/watt
Delta-V 12 kg craft 649 m/s

The spacecraft, a 6-Unit CubeSat — measuring 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm — was designed and is being developed by a non-profit group of fifteen citizen scientists and engineers (Fluid and Reason, LLC) based at Tampa, Florida. [4] [5] [6] Since the Team Miles won the first place at CubeQuest Challenge for the selection process, [7] Fluid and Reason, LLC stroke partnerships and became Miles Space, a commercial endeavor to further develop the technology and intellectual property that has come out of the design process. [4]

Propulsion

Wesley Faler, who leads Fluid and Reason, LLC., is the inventor of the ion thruster to be used, which he calls ConstantQ Model H. [8] [4] It is a form of electric propulsion for spacecraft. The engine is a hybrid plasma and laser thruster that uses ionized iodine as propellant. [9] [6] The Model H system includes 4 thruster heads which are canted, allowing for both primary propulsion and attitude control (orientation) without the use of moving parts. [8] [10] The goal within the CubeQest Challenge is to travel 4 million kilometers, but the team will attempt to go as far as 96 million kilometers before the end of the mission. [4]

Radio

The spacecraft will use the USRP B200mini, a software-defined radio operating in the S band for communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth. [11]

See also

The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission
The 3 CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1

References

  1. ^ a b Roulette, Joey; Gorman, Steve (16 November 2022). "NASA's next-generation Artemis mission heads to moon on debut test flight". Reuters. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  2. ^ Clark, Stephen (12 October 2021). "Adapter structure with 10 CubeSats installed on top of Artemis moon rocket". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Team Miles". NASA Space Science Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "Cube Quest Challenge Spotlight: Team Miles". Space Daily. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  5. ^ Jennifer Harbaugh (18 May 2017). "Cube Quest Challenge Spotlight: Team Miles". NASA. Retrieved 10 March 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ a b Jeremy S. Cook (30 August 2017). "The Miles CubeSat Might Be the Next Satellite Sent to Mars". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  7. ^ Roman, Monsi C.; Kim, Tony; Sudnik, Janet; Cylar, Rosalind; Porter, Molly; Sivak, Amy; Cavanaugh, Dominique; Krome, Kim (12–14 September 2017). "Centennial Challenges Program Overview: How NASA Successfully Involves the General Public in the Solving of Current Technology Gaps". AIAA SPACE and Astronautics Forum and Exposition. Orlando, Florida: AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition. doi: 10.2514/6.2017-5159. hdl: 2060/20170011238. ISBN  978-1-62410-483-1. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b "ConstantQ Spacecraft Propulsion". Fluid and Reason, LLC. 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  9. ^ Lloyd Sowers (12 May 2017). "Tampa team enters new Space Race with cube satellite". FOX13 Tampa Bay. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  10. ^ "ConstantQ™ Thruster". Miles Space. 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  11. ^ Scott Schaire (2018). "Investigation into New Ground Based Communications Service Offerings in Response to SmallSat Trends". 32nd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites Document SSC18-SI-07. Retrieved 10 March 2021.