Abstract The second Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS-2) CubeSat, which begins its flight in late 2018, builds on the success of MinXSS-1, which flew from 2016-05-16 to 2017-05-06. The science instrument is more advanced – now capable of greater dynamic range with higher energy resolution. More data will be captured on the ground than was possible with MinXSS-1 thanks to a sun-synchronous, polar orbit and technical improvements to both the spacecraft and the ground network. Additionally, a new open-source beacon decoder for amateur radio operators is available that can automatically forward any captured MinXSS data to the operations and science team. While MinXSS-1 was only able to downlink about 1 MB of data per day corresponding to a data capture rate of about 1%, MinXSS-2 will increase that by at least a factor of 6. This increase of data capture rate in combination with the mission’s longer orbital lifetime will be used to address new science questions focused on how coronal soft X-rays vary over solar cycle timescales and what impact those variations have on the earth’s upper atmosphere.


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    Title :

    MinXSS-2 CubeSat mission overview: Improvements from the successful MinXSS-1 mission



    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2019-02-12


    Size :

    7 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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