The Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment (DICE) is a scientific mission consisting of two Miniaturized Satellites DICE-1 and DICE-2 flying in formation.1 The satellites are an unusual 1.5U variant of the CubeSat design for microsatellites. Both satellites were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in October 2011 atop a Delta II rocket. This was a multi-payload mission with four other CubeSats, AubieSat-1, M-Cubed, Explorer-1_Prime and RAX-2.2
The satellites are intended to map changes in the Earth's Plasmasphere caused by Geomagnetic storms.3
On board control is provided by a Pumpkin FM430 flight control module containing a Texas Instruments MPS430 microcontroller. Communications are provided by a half-duplex UHF modem with a 1.5 Mbit/s downlink (465 MHz) and 19.2 kbit/s uplink (450 MHz). The satellites carry four Electric Field Probe sensors on telescopic booms, two DC Langmuir probes for detection of ions and a three-axis magnetometer for measuring magnetic fields.4
References
References
- Krebs, Gunter D. "DICE 1, 2 (Yahtzee, Farkle)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
- Graham, William (October 28, 2011). "Delta II successfully launches NPP satellite on behalf of NASA and NOAA". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- "Satellite Missions Catalogue: DICE (Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment)". eoPortal.org. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- Burr, Steven Reed (2013). The Design and Implementation of the Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (Dice) Science Instruments" (Report). Retrieved December 9, 2022.