DICE 1

Spacecraft n°:

US spacecraft n°:

Launch data: Designation  37851 / 11061B Launch date  28 Oct 2011 - 09:48 UT Launch site  Va, SLC-2W Launch vehicle  Delta-7920-10C Mission  Ionospheric research Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  464.4 x 818.5 km Eccentricity   Inclination  101.7 deg Period  97.4 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• DICE (Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment) will map geomagnetic Storm Enhanced Density (SED) plasma bulge and plume formations in Earth’s ionosphere. Two identical spinning spacecraft will measure plasma density and electric fields to determine the how and why of variations in ionospheric plasma density that affect the performance of communications, surveillance, and navigation systems on earth and in space.
• The DICE mission consists of two identical 1.5U CubeSats deployed simultaneously from a single P-POD (NASA’s Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer) into the same orbit. Each will each carry two Langmuir probes to measure in-situ ionospheric plasma densities and electric field probes to measure DC and AC electric fields. These measurements will permit accurate identification of storm-time features, such as the SED bulge and plume, together with simultaneous, co-located electric field measurements, which have previously been lacking. Over time, the satellites will separate relative to each other due to differences in the ejection velocity. The use of two identical satellites permits the de-convolution of spatial and temporal ambiguities in the observations of the ionosphere from a moving platform.

Mission details:

• The Delta 7920 launch vehicle carried six Cubesats in deployers attached to its final stage.
  The 3e deployer carried two 1.5U cubesats, DICE-1 and DICE-2 from Utah State University, which will study the magnetosphere and will each deploy electric field antennas measuring 10 meters tip-to-tip.
• Launch from Space Launch Complex 2-West at Vandenberg was at 0948 UTC; Stage 2 reached a 195 x 853 km x 98.7 deg orbit at 0958 UTC. At 1040 UTC a second burn circulazed the orbit at 816 x 819 km and the NPP satellite separated at 1046 UTC.
  Stage 2's third burn at 1120 UTC lowered the orbit and increased inclination, to 458 x 816 km x 101.7 deg (a higher perigee than originally planned). At 1126 UTC the three 1U Cubesats were ejected, followed at 1128 UTC by RAX-2 and at 1129 UTC by the pair of DICE.