Picosat Free Flying Magnetometer Experiment

Individual satellites have been measuring the Earth's magnetic field since 1958. Measurements taken in this way have led to some interesting discoveries about the earth's magnetosphere. However, they have also raised many questions about the magnetosphere's finer texture and dynamic nature. Researchers at JPL have proposed a mission where a single larger satellite ejects several picosatellites in order to simultaneously sample a volume of space. Each picosat is to carry a small, two axis, fluxgate magnetometer, several photo detectors for spin rate detection, a micro processor and a high frequency transmitter. After launch from the main satellite, each picosat will transmit its sensor readings back to the main satellite where the data will be stored for retrieval. Issues addressed in this paper are related to the design, manufacture, and planned flight test of the picosatellite on OPAL, a Stanford University Student Spacecraft