Particle Detector Safeguard for 2U CubeSat

Presenter: Alexander Michael Vasquez

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Lynn Cominsky

Department: Physics & Astronomy

Other Funding Source/Program: NASA Grant #80NSSC20K1110

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1cLiWVsV-bqmrQ5aXkL685UFcLlopewQo

Abstract:
The IMAP Student Collaboration between Sonoma State University, Howard University, and the University of New Hampshire, is developing a 2U Cube Satellite. It will gather data from ultraviolet light and thermal electrons in the ionosphere. One particular need is to detect the presence of the South Atlantic Anomaly, a region which has a very high particle count and may damage instruments or provide inaccurate data. I am designing a particle sensor which will tell our CubeSat when it is unsafe or inadvisable to function, and will present the final structure of the sensor and how it can be used aboard our CubeSat.

This project was supported by NASA’s IMAP Student Collaboration project led by University of New Hampshire.