Astronomy:Q-PACE

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Short description: Spacecraft mission to study stellar accretion
Q-PACE
NamesCu-PACE
Mission typeAstrophysics
OperatorUniversity of Central Florida
COSPAR ID2021-002X
SATCAT no.473XX
Websitesciences.ucf.edu/physics/microgravity/q-pace/
Mission duration- (planned: 3 years) [1]
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftQ-PACE
Spacecraft typeCubeSat
Bus3U CubeSat
ManufacturerUniversity of Central Florida
Launch mass3 kg (6.6 lb) [1]
Dimensions10 × 10 × 37.6 cm
PowerSolar panels, rechargeable battery
Start of mission
Launch date17 January 2021, 19:39:00 UTC[2]
RocketLauncherOne[3]
(air launch to orbit)
Launch siteMojave Air and Space Port
ContractorVirgin Galactic
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Altitude500 km [1]
Period100.0 minutes
LunaH-Map →
 

CubeSat Particle Aggregation and Collision Experiment (Q-PACE) or Cu-PACE,[4] was an orbital spacecraft mission that would have studied the early stages of proto-planetary accretion by observing particle dynamical aggregation for several years.[5]

Current hypotheses have trouble explaining how particles can grow larger than a few centimeters. This is called the meter size barrier. This mission was selected in 2015 as part of NASA's ELaNa program, and it was launched on 17 January 2021.[6] As of March 2021, however, contact has yet to be established with the satellite, and the mission was feared to be lost. The mission was eventually terminated.

Overview

Artist's impression of a protoplanetary disk

Q-PACE was led by Joshua Colwell at the University of Central Florida and was selected NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) which placed it on Educational Launch of Nanosatellites ELaNa XX.[7] The development of the mission was funded through NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program.[5][8]

Observations of the collisional evolution and accretion of particles in a microgravity environment are necessary to elucidate the processes that lead to the formation of planetesimals (the building blocks of planets), km-size, and larger bodies, within the protoplanetary disk. The current hypotheses of planetesimal formation have difficulties in explaining how particles grow beyond one centimeter in size, so repeated experimentation in relevant conditions is necessary.[9]

Q-PACE was to explore the fundamental properties of low‐velocity (< 10 cm/s (3.9 in/s)) particle collisions in a microgravity environment in an effort to better understand accretion in the protoplanetary disk.[10] Several precursor tests and flight missions were performed in suborbital flights as well as in the International Space Station.[1][11] The small spacecraft does not need accurate pointing or propulsion, which simplified the design.

On 17 January 2021, Q-PACE launched on a Virgin Orbit Launcher One, an air launch to orbit rocket that was dropped from the Cosmic Girl airplane over the Pacific Ocean.[12] As of March 2021, however, contact was not established with the satellite after it reached orbit,[13] and the spacecraft was declared lost and the mission ended.

Objectives

The main objective of Q-PACE was to understand protoplanetary growth from pebbles to boulders by performing long-duration microgravity collision experiments. The specific goals are:[1]

  • Quantify the energy damping in multi-particle systems at low collision speeds (< 1 mm/s (0.039 in/s) to 10 cm/s (3.9 in/s))
  • Identify the influence of a size distribution on the collision outcome.
  • Observe the influence of dust on a multi-particle system.
  • Quantify statistically rare events: observe a large number of similar collisions to arrive at a probabilistic description of collisional outcomes.

Method

Q-PACE was a 3U CubeSat with a collision test chamber and several particle reservoirs that contain meteoritic chondrules, dust particles, dust aggregates, and larger spherical particles. Particles will be introduced into the test chamber for a series of separate experimental runs.

The scientists designed a series of experiments involving a broad range of particle size, density, surface properties, and collision velocities to observe collisional outcomes from bouncing to sticking as well as aggregate disruption in tens of thousands of collisions.[9][14] The test chamber will be mechanically agitated to induce collisions that will be recorded by on‐board video for downlink and analysis.[10] Long duration microgravity allows a very large number of collisions to be studied and produce statistically significant data.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Q-PACE: the CubeSat Particle Aggregation and Collision Experiment Josh Colwell, Julie Brisset, Addie Dove, Larry Roe, Jürgen Blum; University of Central Florida, August 2017
  2. ↑ Krebs, Gunter. "LauncherOne (L2)". Gunter's Space Page. https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/launcherone.htm. 
  3. ↑ Herrera, Chabeli (26 October 2018). "Virgin Orbit releases the first photos of its rocket-plane hybrid, LauncherOne". Orlando Sentinel. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/space/os-bz-virgin-orbit-launcherone-20181026-story.html. 
  4. ↑ "NASA Announces Sixth Round of CubeSat Space Mission Candidates" (Press release). SpaceRef. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 NASA, Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration Program Abstracts of selected proposals, August 8, 2015. Retrieved Nov. 17, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Upcoming ELaNa CubeSat Launches". NASA. 6 May 2020. https://www.nasa.gov/content/upcoming-elana-cubesat-launches.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ "NASA's Space Cubes: Small Satellites Provide Big Payoffs". NASA. 8 September 2015. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-space-cubes-small-satellites-provide-big-payoffs.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ↑ Clark, Stephen (5 August 2019). "NASA's first interplanetary smallsats may struggle to stay under cost caps". Spaceflight Now. https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/05/nasas-first-interplanetary-smallsats-may-struggle-to-stay-under-cost-caps/. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 CubeSat Particle Aggregation Collision Experiment (Q-PACE): Design of a 3U CubeSat mission to investigate planetesimal formation Stephanie Jarmak, Julie Brisset, Joshua Colwell, Adrienne Dove, et al.; Acta Astronautica Volume 155, February 2019, Pages 131-142 doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.11.029
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Q‐PACE: the CubeSat Particle Aggregation and Collision Experiment. Josh Colwell, Julie Brisset, Addie Dove, Larry Roe, January 2016
  11. ↑ Planetesimal Formation Center for Microgravity Research, University of Central Florida Accessed on 17 April 2019.
  12. ↑ Burghardt, Thomas (2021-01-17). "LauncherOne reaches orbit on second attempt with NASA CubeSats" (in en-US). https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/01/launcherone-second-attempt-nasa-cubesats/. 
  13. ↑ Foust, Jeff (26 March 2021). "NASA looking for earlier launch of lunar orbiter smallsat mission". SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/nasa-looking-for-earlier-launch-of-lunar-orbiter-smallsat-mission/. Retrieved 26 March 2021. "Q-PACE launched Jan. 17 as part of the Launch Demo 2 mission by Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne. However, Glaze said that, since launch, controllers have yet to make contact with Q-PACE. "There's dwindling hopes on Q-PACE," she said." 
  14. ↑ Krebs, Gunter. "Q-PACE (Cu-PACE)". Gunter's Space Page. https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/q-pace.htm. 



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