Passive Inspection CubeSats, or PICS, is a technology demonstration spacecraft mission utilizing two CubeSat miniaturized satellites, identified as PIC-A and PIC-B. The project was developed by students at Brigham Young University (BYU) as part of NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNA) initiative beginning in 2016.[1][2] The satellites are outfitted with cameras to be able to get a 360-degree view to visually assess the exterior of other spacecraft and detect possible damage. BYU professor David Long termed the project a "spacecraft selfie cam."[3][4]
| Mission type | Technology Demonstration |
|---|---|
| Operator | Brigham Young University |
| COSPAR ID | 2021-002 |
| Website | BYU Advanced Spacecraft Group [1] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 1U CubeSat each |
| Manufacturer | Brigham Young University |
| Dry mass | 1.35 kg each |
| Power | Solar cells, batteries |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 17 Jan 2020 UTC |
| Rocket | LauncherOne |
| Launch site | Mojave Air and Space Port, California, United States |
| Contractor | Virgin Orbit |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Pericircular altitude | 500 km |
| Apocircular altitude | 500 km |
| Inclination | 60.69 |
PIC-A and PIC-B were originally scheduled to be launched in 2018, but launch was delayed until 2021. PICs was successfully launched into orbit along with eight other CubeSats during Virgin Orbit's Launch Demo 2 on January 17, 2021. In Virgin Orbit's first successful air-launch-to-orbit, the Boeing 747-400 Cosmic Girl carried a LauncherOne orbital rocket from Mojave Air and Space Port to the Pacific Ocean, where LauncherOne separated from the aircraft and achieved orbit.[5]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Passive Inspection CubeSats". Brigham Young University. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ "NASA Announces Seventh Round of Candidates for CubeSat Space Missions". NASA. 2016. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ "This BYU camera is launching into orbit to take photos of NASA spacecraft". BYU News. November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Bennett, Lauren (November 11, 2020). "This BYU camera is launching into orbit to take photos of NASA spacecraft". KSL.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ "Announcing the Window for Launch Demo 2". Virgin Orbit. 2020. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
External links
edit- Advanced Spacecraft Group at BYU
- Passive CubeSats for Remote Inspection of Space Vehicles, BYU Microwave Earth Remote Sensing
- NASA ELaNa 20 Fact Sheet
- video about PICS launch
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