The SpinSat Science Requirements Workshop was held at NASA Ames on March 8, 2024. The hybrid workshop had more than 200 attendees sharing and engaged in lively discussion.
SpinSat / FRISBEE Workshop on Development of Science Requirements
Friday, March 8, 10:30AM to 4:30PM Pacific Time
In-Person Attendance: NASA Ames Research in Building 288, Room 103A/B
The effects of extended-duration exposure to deep-space radiation and reduced gravity on many biological systems are still largely unknown, posing a significant knowledge gap for both astronaut health and in-space agriculture. To address this gap we have developed a spacecraft platform concept optimized for hosting biological payloads studying long-duration exposure to the low-dose deep-space radiation environment under conditions of reduced (artificial) gravitation relevant to Earth’s moon and Mars. Key drivers for the platform concept include low cost per experiment, frequent access to space, standardized interfaces, a range of relevant gravities (including 1-g controls), simulating the lunar radiation environment, late loads of biology during spacecraft I&T, and long mission durations beyond the Van Allen belts.
This hybrid workshop (in-person attendance is encouraged) will focus on development of platform (spacecraft) requirements, options for experiment form factors, and required platform services to host the biological experiments. We encourage scientists to come prepared to share and discuss ideas for science experiments for which simultaneous gravity ranges OR the combined reduced-gravity and space-radiation environment is key. We’ll solicit your input to formulate accommodations requirements for your priority experiments.
SpinSat Workshop Agenda
10:30 – 10:40 Meeting logistics
10:40 – 11:30 Introduction to SpinSat: talks by the SpinSat team
11:30am – 12:30 Lunch break: Join us for discussion over lunch on the N288 patio!
12:30 – 16:30 Breakout discussion groups: Detailed conversations about science requirements for SpinSat.
Note 1: Please join even if you can make it only for a portion of the discussion. Note 2: There will be an online option, but in-person attendance is *strongly* recommended just because it will make small-group discussion easier.
Preliminary List of Science Questions to Be Addressed
Biology:
What are the most interesting organisms, processes and timelines required for the experiments?
What are the temperature ranges (stasis/survival/operational control for the different organisms and reagents? How does this vary over the course of the experiment, or for different components of the payload? Does any component need temperatures below 0 °C?
How often (if at all) can biology be interrupted (if needed) for comms links?
Radiation:
Is there a strong preference whether to focus on Solar Energetic Particles or Galactic Cosmic Radiation (solar max or min)? Lunar radiation (i.e. through the inclusion of regolith)?
How many radiation detectors are needed? Does placement matter?
What kind of radiation do you need to detect, at what measurement cadence, and across what energy range? Do you need spatially resolved data? (Are spectrometers sufficient to get experimental data?) What do you ultimately plan to do with the radiation data?
What are your requirements regarding the shielding provided by the spacecraft? (e.g. max/min or uniformity)
Gravity:
What gravity levels are most likely to be targeted by (your) biology experiments? Microgravity / Lunar / Mars / hypergravity / a gradient / other
What are typical constraints the uniformity & precision & temporal stability (eg, due to nutation) of the g-field?
What components of your system are most sensitive to changes in acceleration (or g-force), and what are their tolerances?
SpinSat is capable of providing a 1g environment as a control. How important is it for the 1g control to be a) synchronous (strictly simultaneous) and/or b) in the same payload with the experimental samples? What are possible trades?
Other:
What form factors, other than “U” (cubesat form factor), would be useful?
What size do you anticipate needing for your experiments, both in terms of the “U” for the biology and any additional “U for experiment support
Are there specific environments that are not well represented by typical deep-space orbits?
Do Van Allen Belt crossings impact your science?
Would your payload contain moving parts (including moving fluid)? If so, please describe.
Data:
What are the nominal data collection rates for different types of experiments? If unknown, please explain the kinds of data that would be collected (absorbance, imaging, sequencing, etc) and at what frequency.
What is the required latency for the data? What is the cadence with which you need to receive experimental data on the ground, and what is the maximum delay tolerable between measurement and data receipt? How does this vary over the course of the experiment?
Does a nominal mission scenario require sending commands to your experiment? If so, what are the control cadences?
