DANDE (Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer)
Mission
DANDE’s mission statement is to explore the spatial and temporal variability of the neutral thermosphere at altitudes between 200 and 350 km (revised to 325-500 km due to being assigned to a new orbit since the beginning of the project), and investigate how wind and density variability translate to drag forces on satellites. The density of the atmosphere varies greatly due to space weather and other unknown processes. The International Space Station once dropped in height by tens of kilometers in a span of a few days – and by understanding drag forces and composition of the atmosphere we can provide better data about this phenomenon.
DANDE separation system:
The DANDE spacecraft is required to interface to the launch vehicle via the ESPA ring containing a circular 24 bolt pattern. At the desired time following launch, the ESPA ring will eject (via an independent ESPA separation system) the DANDE system from the launch vehicle allowing the initiation of the mission. To connect the spherical DANDE spacecraft to the ESPA ring, an interface bracket was created.
Upon ESPA separation the DANDE system (containing both the interface bracket and sphere) are ejected. At a later time, the spacecraft will be commanded to independently separate from the interface bracket enabling the start of the science portion of the mission.
DANDE Spacecraft Mission overview.
Orbital parameters
Name DANDE NORAD 39267 COSPAR designation 2013-055-C Inclination (degree) 80.992 RAAN 301.544 Eccentricity 0.0796289 ARGP 120.149 Orbit per day 13.96736584 Period 1h 43m 05s (103.9 min) Semi-major axis 7 283 km Perigee x apogee 325 x 1 485 km Drag factor 0.000242970 1/ER Mean Anomaly 248.095
Downlink
Beacon
436.75 MHz FM, 9k6 FSK
Transmit Interval: every 15 seconds, RF Power Output: 0.75 W, Antenna Polarization: linear
Callsign
dandecosgc
TLE
DANDE 1 39267U 13055C 13286.46970741 .00007146 00000-0 24297-3 0 96 2 39267 80.9916 301.5444 0796289 120.1487 248.0954 13.96736584 1934
Telemetry
2013-09-29 20:52:46.160 UTC: [136 Bytes KISS Frame (without CRC)] 1 > C0 00 88 82 9C 88 8A 40 62 88 82 9C 88 8A 40 65 03 3A 64 61 21 > 6E 64 65 63 6F 73 67 63 00 00 3F 8D 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 41 > 00 00 05 F7 00 04 00 00 D0 02 00 01 00 00 00 FF 02 01 76 01 61 > 08 00 00 00 5F 00 98 01 00 01 03 00 F7 01 07 01 07 28 00 00 81 > 01 0F EF 00 25 0C B0 0B EC 0E DC 07 DD 06 AA 06 A5 05 F2 00 101 > 01 05 C8 09 B1 47 45 47 5B 0D 90 00 00 00 00 64 61 6E 64 65 121 > 2E 63 6F 6C 6F 72 61 64 6F 2E 65 64 75 73 21 C0 À.ˆ‚œˆŠ@bˆ‚œˆŠ@e.:dandecosgc..?...........÷....Ð......ÿ..v....._.˜ .....÷....(....ï.%.°.ì.Ü.Ý.ª.¥.ò...È.±GEG[.....dande.colorado.edus!À ____________________________________________________________________ 2013-09-29 20:53:36.360 UTC: [137 Bytes KISS Frame (without CRC)] 1 > C0 00 88 82 9C 88 8A 40 62 88 82 9C 88 8A 40 65 03 3A 64 61 21 > 6E 64 65 63 6F 73 67 63 00 00 3F DB DC 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 41 > 00 00 00 05 F7 00 04 00 00 D0 02 00 01 00 00 00 FF 02 01 75 61 > 01 00 00 00 00 5F 00 98 01 00 00 FE 00 F2 01 07 01 07 28 00 81 > 00 01 0F F2 00 25 0C F9 0B EF 0E E0 07 DD 06 AA 06 A5 05 ED 101 > 00 01 05 C8 09 AF 47 4F 47 66 0D 90 00 00 00 00 64 61 6E 64 121 > 65 2E 63 6F 6C 6F 72 61 64 6F 2E 65 64 75 9A 86 C0 À.ˆ‚œˆŠ@bˆ‚œˆŠ@e.:dandecosgc..?ÛÜ...........÷....Ð......ÿ..u....._.˜ ...þ.ò....(....ò.%.ù.ï.à.Ý.ª.¥.í...È.¯GOGf.....dande.colorado.eduš†À
Status
DANDE is scheduled to launch in early Spring 2013 from Vandenburg Air Force base in California along with Cassiope and CUSAT 1 and 2. Launched and active.
Launch of Inaugural Falcon 9 v1.1 Rocket with Cassiope, DANDE and CUSat 1 and 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFefasS6bhc
Homepage and other references:
DANDE website: DANDE
ePortal DANDE information
High level design overview: download
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