CHESS: Measuring the Dynamics of Composition and Density of Earth's Upper Atmosphere with CubeSats

Abstract

Earth's upper atmosphere is a dynamic system that is determined by external and internal forces. Understanding this system allows for insights into the evolution of a habitable world and, therefore, the origin of our Solar System. In addition, it is the environment for many satellites that are key to our modern world. The uppermost part of Earth's atmosphere, the exosphere and ionosphere, couples the collision-dominated thermosphere with outer space, where other processes determine the trajectories of the particles. Whereas the thermosphere is mostly gravitationally bound to the planet, a fraction of the particles present in the exosphere leaves Earth into interplanetary space. Over geologic times, these loss processes are an important factor in the evolution of an atmosphere and are considered being the main reason why Earth currently has a habitable atmospheric surface composition in contrast to Venus and Mars, which were all very similar once. In the short term, the variability of the Sun's radiation, including both photons (from XUV to IR) and energetic particles causes considerable variations in the chemical composition, the density, and the spatial extent of the TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .

Advances in Mass Spectrometers for Flyby Space Missions for the Analysis of Biosignatures and Other Complex Molecules

“…The ion-optical system is directly mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB) [67,68,82]. Thanks to this approach, both high-voltage connectors and cables can be saved.…”