astronomy

SpaceCube

SpaceCube is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SpaceCube rather than just read about it. In short: SpaceCube is a family of high-performance reconfigurable systems designed for spaceflight applications requiring on-board processing. The SpaceCube was developed by engineers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Key takeaways

SpaceCube belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SpaceCube to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SpaceCube from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SpaceCube is a family of high-performance reconfigurable systems designed for spaceflight applications requiring on-board processing. The SpaceCube was developed by engineers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The SpaceCube 1.0 system is based on Xilinx's Virtex-4 commercial FPGAs. The debut mission of the SpaceCube 1.0, Hubble Servicing Mission 4, was the first time Xilinx's Virtex-4 FPGAs flew in space.

Missions Hubble Servicing Mission 4: The SpaceCube was the brains of the Relative Navigation Sensors autonomous docking experiment that was intended to run in parallel with the astronaut controlled docking of the Hubble Space Telescope. RNS met its stated goals. MISSE-7: The SpaceCube was attached to the outside of the ISS during an EVA on Space Shuttle Mission STS-129 (Nov 2009). It provides an on-orbit test platform for demonstrating innovative radiation hardened by software techniques. It is mounted on the NRL's MISSE7 experiment which is attach to an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier.

Family overview SpaceCube 1.0: Based on Xilinx's Virtex-4 commercial FPGAs. SpaceCube 1.5: Intermediate version of SpaceCube 2.0. Based on Xilinx's Virtex-5 commercial FPGAs. Scheduled to fly on sounding rocket flight in the fall of 2010. SpaceCube 2.0: Currently under development with over $1 million in funding. The SpaceCube 2.0 system is based around Xilinx's new radiation-hardened Virtex-5 FPGA.

Awards NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center SpaceCube team earned an honorable mention for the 2009 "IRAD Innovator of the Year" award.

On-board science data processing achievements Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) results: 6 to 1 loss-less data volume reduction on SAR Nadir Altimetry dataset. 165x data volume reduction on SAR mapping dataset.

References

External links PowerPC405 MIPS Study Goddard Space Flight Center technologies site SpaceCube on Facebook A pose and position measurement system for the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine Relative Navigation Summer 2008 Goddard Tech Trends MAPLD 2009 RNS SpaceCube MAPLD 2009 SpaceCube Activities RHBD Xilinx Virtex-5 Heavy ion SEE test of Xilinx Virtex4 XC4VFX60 FPGA SpaceCube Virtex-4 FPGA qualification methodology Spring 2009 Goddard News Tech Transfer Xilinx XCell Journal Customer Innovation Issue Media SpaceCube Photo Gallery on Flickr MISSE-7 SpaceCube development team SpaceCube in Atlantis Shuttle bay(The SpaceCube is mounted on the MISSE-7 ExPA on ELC-2 on the bottom right.) SpaceCube mounted to MISSE7's ExPA(The SpaceCube is the smaller box with several connectors on top) Naval Research Lab's MISSE-7 Press Release

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SpaceCube

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SpaceCube claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SpaceCube before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SpaceCube ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SpaceCube

In research: SpaceCube appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SpaceCube in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SpaceCube is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Goddard Space Flight Center, Hubble Space Telescope, Satellite buses, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SpaceCube outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SpaceCube in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SpaceCube means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SpaceCube out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SpaceCube in simple terms?

Why does SpaceCube matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SpaceCube?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SpaceCube.