It says scientists will spend years studying a treasure trove of valuable data captured by 1300 experiments carried out by the satellite, covering radiation hazards, space weather, equipment degradation and flight manoeuvrability.
The craft – described as being roughly the size of an American football field – contained four experiment suites. These were designed to increase knowledge of conditions in the orbital regime known as Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and to test advanced spacecraft control techniques.
“MEO overlaps the Van Allen Radiation Belts, which are regions of charged particles trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field,” said Dr. Robert Johnston, the team’s lead science investigator.
“At their very high speeds, these particles pose a natural radiation hazard and their tendency to disturb and degrade spacecraft electronics means the region is challenging for spacecraft to use. Because the radiation belts are prone to frequent changes in MEO, we saw a promising opportunity to obtain a better understanding of those charged particles and their behavior.”
Four suites
The first of DSX’s four experiment suites was known as the Wave Particle Interaction Experiment, which was designed to increase our understanding of the interaction between Very-Low Frequency (VLF) radio waves and the charged particles within the Van Allen Belts. Scientists have observed fluctuations in the radiation belts due to natural VLF waves generated from lightning.
A second DSX experiment suite was the Space Weather Experiment, to study the locations and intensities of the various kinds of particles trapped within the Van Allen Belts.
The third experiment hosted on DSX was the Space Effects Experiment. This experiment was in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, says AFRL, and measured the degradation of commonly used spacecraft components in the harsh MEO environment over the course of the mission. This data will be applied to better equip spacecraft to operate in MEO.
The fourth DSX experiment suite was the Adaptive Controls Experiment, designed to gain a greater understanding of how to manoeuvre a large orbiting structure, which will benefit future large AFRL flight experiments.
Launch
The spacecraft was launched 25 June 2019 – from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station – after 16 years of development, integration, and testing.
“Most of the spacecraft developed at AFRL are primarily focused on technology development and demonstration,” said Johnston. “However, as its name indicates, DSX was also built as a platform for science experiments.”
Pictured above is an artist’s rendering of the Air Force Research Laboratory Demonstration and Science Experiments spacecraft on-orbit with its 80-meter and 16-meter antenna booms extended.
After spending nearly two years on orbit, DSX was intentionally “passivated” on 31 May 2021.
AFRL
The AFRL is the primary scientific research and development centre for the U.S. Department of the Air Force.
It plays a role in leading the discovery and development of warfighting technologies for U.S. air, space, and cyberspace forces.
Image: U.S. Air Force