An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument
Neutral gas pressure measurements in low Earth orbit (LEO) can facilitate the monitoring of atmospheric gravity waves, which can trigger instabilities that severely disrupt radio frequency communication signals. The Space Neutral Pressure Instrument (SNeuPI) is a low-power instrument detecting neutr...
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ndltd-VTETD-oai-vtechworks.lib.vt.edu-10919-749162020-09-29T05:40:36Z An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument Rohrer, Todd Edward Bloomquist Electrical and Computer Engineering Earle, Gregory D. Wang, Anbo Sable, Daniel M. Space Spacecraft CubeSat Instrumentation Analog Circuit Design Neutral gas pressure measurements in low Earth orbit (LEO) can facilitate the monitoring of atmospheric gravity waves, which can trigger instabilities that severely disrupt radio frequency communication signals. The Space Neutral Pressure Instrument (SNeuPI) is a low-power instrument detecting neutral gas density in order to determine neutral gas pressure. SNeuPI consists of an ionization chamber and a logarithmic electrometer circuit. The Rev. 1 SNeuPI electrometer prototype does not function as designed. A Rev. 2 electrometer circuit must be designed and its performance characterized across specified operating temperature and input current ranges. This document presents a design topology for the Rev. 2 electrometer and a derivation of the theoretical circuit transfer function. Component selection and layout are discussed. A range of predicted operating input currents is calculated using modeled neutral density data for a range of local times, altitudes, and latitudes corresponding to the conditions expected for the Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE) CubeSat mission. Laboratory test setups for measurements performed both under vacuum and at atmospheric pressure are documented in detail. Test procedures are presented to characterize the performance of the Rev. 2 electrometer at a range of controlled operating temperatures. The results of these tests are then extrapolated in order to predict the operation of the circuit at specified temperatures outside of the range controllable under laboratory test conditions. The logarithmic conformance, accuracy, sensitivity, power consumption, and deviations from expected response of the circuit are characterized. The results validate the electrometer for use under its expected flight conditions. Master of Science 2017-02-03T09:00:23Z 2017-02-03T09:00:23Z 2017-02-02 Thesis vt_gsexam:9440 http://hdl.handle.net/10919/74916 In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ ETD application/pdf application/pdf Virginia Tech |
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Space Spacecraft CubeSat Instrumentation Analog Circuit Design |
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Space Spacecraft CubeSat Instrumentation Analog Circuit Design Rohrer, Todd Edward Bloomquist An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument |
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Neutral gas pressure measurements in low Earth orbit (LEO) can facilitate the monitoring of atmospheric gravity waves, which can trigger instabilities that severely disrupt radio frequency communication signals. The Space Neutral Pressure Instrument (SNeuPI) is a low-power instrument detecting neutral gas density in order to determine neutral gas pressure. SNeuPI consists of an ionization chamber and a logarithmic electrometer circuit. The Rev. 1 SNeuPI electrometer prototype does not function as designed. A Rev. 2 electrometer circuit must be designed and its performance characterized across specified operating temperature and input current ranges.
This document presents a design topology for the Rev. 2 electrometer and a derivation of the theoretical circuit transfer function. Component selection and layout are discussed. A range of predicted operating input currents is calculated using modeled neutral density data for a range of local times, altitudes, and latitudes corresponding to the conditions expected for the Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE) CubeSat mission. Laboratory test setups for measurements performed both under vacuum and at atmospheric pressure are documented in detail. Test procedures are presented to characterize the performance of the Rev. 2 electrometer at a range of controlled operating temperatures. The results of these tests are then extrapolated in order to predict the operation of the circuit at specified temperatures outside of the range controllable under laboratory test conditions. The logarithmic conformance, accuracy, sensitivity, power consumption, and deviations from expected response of the circuit are characterized. The results validate the electrometer for use under its expected flight conditions. === Master of Science |
author2 |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
author_facet |
Electrical and Computer Engineering Rohrer, Todd Edward Bloomquist |
author |
Rohrer, Todd Edward Bloomquist |
author_sort |
Rohrer, Todd Edward Bloomquist |
title |
An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument |
title_short |
An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument |
title_full |
An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument |
title_fullStr |
An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument |
title_full_unstemmed |
An Electrometer Design and Characterization for a CubeSat Neutral Pressure Instrument |
title_sort |
electrometer design and characterization for a cubesat neutral pressure instrument |
publisher |
Virginia Tech |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10919/74916 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT rohrertoddedwardbloomquist anelectrometerdesignandcharacterizationforacubesatneutralpressureinstrument AT rohrertoddedwardbloomquist electrometerdesignandcharacterizationforacubesatneutralpressureinstrument |
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