Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel helped develop a tiny analyzer to study empty pockets in the plasma of the ionosphere ? a phenomenon that can disrupt satellite communications.
The Flat Plasma Spectrometer is one of three experimental payloads onboard the Air Force Academy?s Falconsat-3 microsatellite launched earlier this month on a six-month mission to monitor the ionosphere. Hopkins researchers worked with NASA scientists and the U.S. Air Force Academy on the teacup-sized monitor.
“We?ve aggressively miniaturized the instrument by applying manufacturing techniques used in the micro-electronics world to build personal computer components,” said Robert Osiander, APL?s principal investigator on the project. “These spectrometers could be advantageous for mapping missions, for example, which require a large number of microsatellites to simultaneously map multiple points in space.”
