The origins of BRITE‐Constellation can be traced back to the founding of the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) when, in 1998, SFL accepted a major role in the development of the Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) microsatellite mission. MOST's mission was to perform asteroseismology of solar type stars through the use of high‐precision photometry (i.e., measuring brightness variations over time). MOST overcame significant challenges, including the need for ultra‐precise long duration pointing that far exceeded what had been previously accomplished with a microsatellite. Launched in 2003 and still in operation, MOST went on to demonstrate arcsecond‐level pointing (50x the mission requirement) and photometric precision more than 50x better than had ever been achieved before.

    After MOST's launch in 2003, the natural question became whether the expertise gained from the MOST mission could be leveraged to create a nanosatellite platform that was also suitable for precision astronomy. The brightest stars in the Earth's sky (V < 4) were poorly studied relative to their fainter counterparts. Many modern precision instruments with their increasingly large apertures were simply too sensitive to study them. Simply put, it was not only possible to do precision photometry of bright stars with a nanosatellite, it was in fact the ideal platform from which to study them.

    The BRITE concept was born. But once again, there were questions about whether a spacecraft so small could achieve the pointing required for such precision science. With multiple BRITE satellites now in orbit, this chapter describes how BRITE‐Constellation is now doing for nanosatellites what MOST did for microsatellites a decade before.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    BRITE‐Constellation


    Subtitle :

    Astronomy Nanosatellites


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2015-12-10


    Size :

    15 pages




    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Indischer Brite. Rover 15

    Wolkenstein,P. / Austin Rover Group,Canley,GB | Automotive engineering | 2003


    The BRITE Space Telescope: Using a Nanosatellite Constellation to Measure Stellar Variability in the Most Massive Stars

    Deschamps, Norman C. / Grant, C. Cordell / Foisy, Daniel G. et al. | AIAA | 2006




    The BRITE space telescope: Using a nanosatellite constellation to measure stellar variability in the most luminous stars

    Deschamps, Norman C. / Grant, C. Cordell / Foisy, Daniel G. et al. | Elsevier | 2009