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US experimental communications and plasma propulsion spacecraft From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Team Miles was a 6U CubeSat that was to demonstrate navigation in deep space using innovative plasma thrusters. It was also to test a software-defined radio operating in the S-band for communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth. Team Miles was one of ten CubeSats launched with the Artemis 1 mission into a heliocentric orbit in cislunar space on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), that took place on 16 November 2022.[1][2] Team Miles was deployed but contact was not established with the spacecraft.[3]
.png) | |
| Mission type | Technology demonstration |
|---|---|
| Website | team |
| Mission duration | 2 years and 4 days (in orbit) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Team Miles |
| Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
| Bus | 6U CubeSat |
| Manufacturer | Fluid and Reason, LLC. |
| Launch mass | 14 kg (31 lb) |
| Dimensions | 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC[1] |
| Rocket | SLS Block 1 |
| Launch site | KSC, LC-39B |
| Contractor | NASA |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Heliocentric orbit |
| Flyby of Moon | |
| Transponders | |
| Band | S-band |
NASA CubeQuest Challenge | |
| Parameter | Units/performance |
|---|---|
| Thrust | 5 mN |
| Specific impulse (Isp) | 760 seconds |
| Impulse | 7456 N seconds |
| Power | 22 watts |
| Wet mass | 1.5 kg |
| Propellant mass | 1 kg |
| Propellant | Solid iodine |
| Thrust:Mass | 3.3 mN/kg |
| Impulse:Power | 338 N seconds/watt |
| Delta-V 12 kg craft | 649 m/s |
The spacecraft, a 6-Unit CubeSat — measuring 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm — was designed and is being developed by a non-profit group of fifteen citizen scientists and engineers (Fluid and Reason, LLC) based at Tampa, Florida.[4][5][6] Since the Team Miles won the first place at CubeQuest Challenge for the selection process,[7] Fluid and Reason, LLC stroke partnerships and became Miles Space, a commercial endeavor to further develop the technology and intellectual property that has come out of the design process.[4]
Wesley Faler, who leads Fluid and Reason, LLC., is the inventor of the ion thruster to be used, which he calls ConstantQ Model H.[8][4] It is a form of electric propulsion for spacecraft. The engine is a hybrid plasma and laser thruster that uses ionized iodine as propellant.[9][6] The Model H system includes 4 thruster heads which are canted, allowing for both primary propulsion and attitude control (orientation) without the use of moving parts.[8][10] The goal within the CubeQuest Challenge is to travel 4 million kilometers, but the team will attempt to go as far as 96 million kilometers before the end of the mission.[4]
The spacecraft will use the USRP B200mini, a software-defined radio operating in the S band for communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth.[11]
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