(SwRI)
NASA has approved a Cubsat satellite project for the study of the Sun in the X-ray range.
CubIXSS is expected to launch in 2024 and within a year will measure plasma parameters in the active regions and corona of our star.
The goal of the CubIXSS project (CubeSat Imaging X-Ray Solar Spectrometer) will be to study the dynamics of hot plasma in active regions on the Sun, which are sources of flares and coronal mass ejections.
Scientists are interested in what role the flares themselves play in plasma heating and how much energy is transferred to the solar corona during them.
The collected scientific data is expected to help better understand the relationship between particle acceleration, plasma heating and energy release during magnetic reconnection.
The instrumentation will be installed on a 6U cubesat satellite, which will go into low-earth orbit, where it will operate.
Observations will be carried out at different wavelengths in the soft X-ray range with high spatial and spectral resolution
They will make it possible to determine the temperature and ionic composition of plasma in active regions and in the solar corona.
Now NASA approved the start of satellite development, which will be undertaken by the Southwest Research Institute, the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory at the University of Colorado.
The launch of the device into space itself is scheduled for the end of 2024 as an auxiliary payload when launching any other satellite, the scientific program is designed for one year.
Sources:
- Southwest Research Institute: https://www.swri.org/press-release/nasa-selects-swriled-cubesat-assess-origins-hot-plasma-suns-corona