Ph.D Thesis: CubeSat Mission to Venus

A long with my Co-Investigator Cadence Payne, we are looking to send the 1st CubeSat mission to Venus! This mission is all about increasing accessability to interplanetary exploration.

Abstract:

Venus is arguably one of the most interesting planets in our solar system as it is the hottest, experiences runaway greenhouse effects, and has fascinating atmospheric signatures. NASA has recently demonstrated increased interest in Venus, approving two new missions to the planet expected to launch between 2028 and 2030. Unfortunately, medium-to-large scale missions (e.g., 300 - 5000 kg) have long development timelines and high costs that can slow development of the field, constrain allowable risk for selection of observation targets, and raise the financial bar to inaccessible levels, particularly for smaller research institutions. We propose an investigation of a mission concept, including an analysis of mission feasibility and survivability, for a Venus orbiting 12U CubeSat. A dedicated Venus CubeSat would challenge the interplanetary compatibility of the CubeSat form, a boundary crossed only once before by the Mars Cube One mission. Our science payload will survey the planet’s diverse set of atmospheric gasses, such as Phosphine, across varying geographical regions and low-temporal (days to months) variations. Our communications payload will demonstrate relay compatibility for future missions. We include an artist as a primary mission stakeholder to help challenge the norm for traditional team composition. Our art installation will seek to increase social awareness of climate change in our planet and the role space exploration plays in furthering our understanding of it. Last, we intend to promote inclusive practices through integration of underrepresented minority students from HBCUs and MSIs on our mission development teams, further increasing representation in the space exploration community.

We are still working out the details of the project but here is our first poster that we presented at the Small Sat Conference in August 2022.

Relevant Publications:

VEXAG

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA November 2022

• Poster: Mission Feasibility Study for a Venus Orbiting CubeSat.

IAC (75th International Astronautical Congress)

Paris, France September 2022

• Investigating the Feasibility of CubeSat Venus Mission for Atmospheric Surveying

Small Satellite Conference

Logan, Utah , USA August 2022

• Poster: Investigating CubeSat Compatibility for use as an Atmospheric Probe in the Venusian Environment

My role in the Project:

I am the co-principal investigator and science payload lead for the team. This means that I am investigating what are the possible scientific goals that our CubeSat mission will have, as well as the instrument to do so. I am also working on the propulsion and communications payload selection for our mission.

Additionally, I am working on fundraising and relationship building with the two new NASA Discovery Missions to Venus.