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OPTEC: A Cubesat for Solar Cell CalibrationA new type of small spacecraft, the cubesat, has introduced a new concept for extremely small, low-cost missions into space. Cubesats are designed to be launched as secondary payloads on other missions, and are made up of unit elements (U) of size 10 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm, with a nominal mass of no more than 1.33 kg per U. We have designed a cubesat, OPTEC (Orbital Photovoltaic Testbed Cubesat) as a low-cost testbed to demonstrate, calibrate, and test solar cell technologies in space. Size of the cubesat is 2U (10x10x20cm, and the mass 2.66 kg. The cubesat deploys from the International Space Station into Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of about 420 km. Up to two 4x8cm test solar panels can be flown, with full I-V curves and temperature measurements taken.
Document ID
20150000741
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Landis, Geoffrey
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Hepp, Aloysius
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Arutyunov, Dennis
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
White, Kelsey
(Illinois Univ. at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL, United States)
Witsberger, Paul
(Purdue Univ. West Lafayette, IN, United States)
Date Acquired
January 26, 2015
Publication Date
October 28, 2014
Subject Category
Electronics And Electrical Engineering
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
GRC-E-DAA-TN18798
Meeting Information
Meeting: Space Photovoltaic Research and Technology (SPRAT) Conference
Location: Cleveland, OH
Country: United States
Start Date: October 28, 2014
End Date: October 30, 2014
Sponsors: NASA Glenn Research Center
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 717302.04.03.01.03
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
OPTEC
cubesat
solar cell
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