THIS 2010 NASA SBIR PHASE 1 PROPOSAL FOR AN INNOVATIVE LOW-FIELD VECTOR MAGNETOMETER (V-400-LF) IS A RESPON…

Public award description

THIS 2010 NASA SBIR PHASE 1 PROPOSAL FOR AN INNOVATIVE LOW-FIELD VECTOR MAGNETOMETER (V-400-LF) IS A RESPONSE TO SUBTOPIC S1.06 PARTICLES AND FIELD SENSORS AND INSTRUMENT ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES. THE V-400-LF INSTRUMENT IS INTENDED FOR MAKING HIGH-RESOLUTION MAGNETIC FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF PLANETS AND IN INTERPLANETARY SPACE ON SMALL SATELLITES AND SPACECRAFT. THE PHASE 1 EFFORT INCLUDES DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGNS FOR ADVANCED MINIATURIZED COMPONENTS AND A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A MINIATURIZED V-400-LF INSTRUMENT IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF DESIGNING AND FABRICATING A PROTOTYPE V 400-LF IN PHASE 2. LASER-PUMPED HELIUM MAGNETOMETERS HAVE PROVEN TO BE WORLD-CLASS INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING THE DIRECTION AND MAGNITUDE OF THE GEOMAGNETIC AND PLANETARY FIELDS. THE V-400-LF WILL BUILD ON THE HERITAGE OF THE LOW-FIELD VECTOR HELIUM MAGNETOMETER (LVHM), THE SCALAR HELIUM MAGNETOMETER (SHM), AND THE LASER-PUMPED VECTOR/SCALAR SELF-CALIBRATING VECTOR HELIUM MAGNETOMETER (SVHM). THE GOAL OF PHASE 1 IS DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A MINIATURIZED INSTRUMENT APPROPRIATE FOR SMALL SPACECRAFT AND MICROSATELLITES. THIS MINIATURIZATION WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THE USE OF ADVANCED MINIATURIZED COMPONENTS AND PACKAGING METHODS FOR THE V-400-LF SENSOR AND ELECTRONICS. THE V-400-LF CAN BE USED TO MEASURE VECTOR COMPONENTS OF LOW MAGNETIC FIELDS, SCALAR GRADIENTS (DIFFERENCE OF VECTOR MAGNITUDE MEASUREMENTS FROM TWO V-400-LF INSTRUMENTS), AND GRADIENT TENSOR ELEMENTS (DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VECTOR COMPONENTS USING THREE OR MORE INSTRUMENTS) WITH VERY HIGH STABILITY AND ACCURACY. THE V-400-LF WILL HAVE A DYNAMIC RANGE OF +/- 1,000 NT, A SENSITIVITY OF 10 PT/RTHZ AT 1 HZ, AND A CALIBRATED ACCURACY OF +/- 0.5 NT. THE SAMPLE RATE WILL BE 430 HZ. THE TRL IS EXPECTED TO BE 4 AT THE END OF THE PHASE 1 CONTRACT.