The Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment (DICE) is a scientific mission consisting of two Miniaturized Satellites DICE-1 and DICE-2 flying in formation.[1] The satellites are an unusual 1.5U variant of the CubeSat design for microsatellites. Both satellites were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in October 2011 atop a Delta II rocket. This was a multi-payload mission with four other CubeSats, AubieSat-1, M-Cubed, Explorer-1_Prime and RAX-2.[2]
The satellites are intended to map changes in the Earth's Plasmasphere caused by Geomagnetic storms.[3]
On board control is provided by a Pumpkin FM430 flight control module containing a Texas Instruments MPS430 microcontroller. Communications are provided by a half-duplex UHF modem with a 1.5 Mbit/s downlink (465 MHz) and 19.2 kbit/s uplink (450 MHz). The satellites carry four Electric Field Probe sensors on telescopic booms, two DC Langmuir probes for detection of ions and a three-axis magnetometer for measuring magnetic fields.[4]
|
| |
|---|---|
| January |
|
| February |
|
| March |
|
| April |
|
| May |
|
| June |
|
| July |
|
| August |
|
| September |
|
| October |
|
| November |
|
| December |
|
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). | |
 | This article about one or more spacecraft of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This electromagnetism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This geophysics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This astrophysics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
