ABSTRACT
The Cusp Plasma Imaging Detector (CuPID) CubeSat observatory is a 6U CubeSat designed to observe solar wind charge exchange in magnetospheric cusps to test competing theories of magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause. The CuPID is equipped with three instruments, namely, a wide field-of-view (4.6° × 4.6°) soft x-ray telescope, a micro-dosimeter suite, and an engineering magnetometer optimized for the science operation. The instrument suite has been tested and calibrated in relevant environments, demonstrating successful design. The testing and calibration of these instruments produced metrics and coefficients that will be used to create the CuPID mission's data product.
ABSTRACT
We describe the development, launch into space, and initial results from a prototype wide field-of-view soft X-ray imager that employs lobster-eye optics and targets heliophysics, planetary, and astrophysics science. The sheath transport observer for the redistribution of mass is the first instrument using this type of optics launched into space and provides proof-of-concept for future flight instruments capable of imaging structures such as the terrestrial cusp, the entire dayside magnetosheath from outside the magnetosphere, comets, the Moon, and the solar wind interaction with planetary bodies like Venus and Mars [Kuntz et al., Astrophys. J. (in press)].
