1. LAICE Overview
Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE)
Dr. Greg Earle, Stephen Noel, Dr. Gary Swenson,
Dr. Alex Ghosh, Dr. John Black
2 December 2015
Space@VT Center
1901 Innovation Dr., Blacksburg, VA 24061
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2. LAICE Team
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Name Institution Role
Dr. Greg Earle Virginia Tech PI
Dr. Gary Swenson University of Illinois Co-I
Dr. Alex Ghosh University of Illinois Bus Lead
Stephen Noel Virginia Tech VT Payload Lead

3. Team Organization
University of Illinois
•Bus structure
•C&DH
•Radio & antenna
•ADACS
•Power system
•Photometer payload
Virginia Tech
•In-situ instruments
• RPA
• SNeuPI
• LINAS
•VT payload communication
and power regulation
board (LIIB)
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4. Mission Overview
• NSF-funded CubeSat 6U (approximately 30x20x10 cm)
• Low-cost, high-risk
• Graduate and undergraduate students
• Provides hands-on experience to over 60 students at UIUC and VT
• Selected by NASA ElaNa program for launch opportunity
• Will be deployed off ISS via Nanoracks system
• Tentative launch date August 2016
• Three in-situ instruments and a suite of optical instruments
(photometers)
• UIUC-designed magnetic torque coils for attitude control
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5. Mission Overview (cont.)
• CadetU UHF radio
• Operates in government regulated UHF band
• 445 - 455 MHz uplink
• 460 – 470 MHz downlink
• Will use existing communications infrastructure at Wallops Flight Facility and
USU/SDL (used in DICE CubeSat mission)
• Power system
• 4 Li-Ion 18650 batteries in 2 series, 2 parallel arrangement
• 7.4V nominal total voltage of battery pack
• 5200 mAh nominal total capacity of battery pack
• Maximum power point tracking with UIUC power board
• Azure Space 30% efficient solar cells
• Total solar cell area of 241.44 cm^2
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6. Satellite Overview
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+Z,
Velocity
+Y, Zenith
+X
Photometer Payload
RPA
LINAS &
SNeuPI
Aperture
RPA
Photometer Payload
LINAS & SNeuPI Aperture
VT Payload
Li-Ion Batteries
Antenna
Bus Electronics
SPS release
mechanism

7. Current Timeline
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Deadline Description
2015
December All hardware finished with subsystem level testing
2016
January Final modifications to hardware systems
February Delivery of payloads to bus integration site
April-May Completion of bus-payload integration and all lab
functional testing
June Completion of primary environmental testing campaign
June-August Repeat testing and address minor redesign issues
August Delivery of bus to launch provider

8. Mission Science Drivers
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Data from DE-2 (1981) shows
evidence of gravity waves in
both the neutral and ionized
components of the atmosphere
at LEO altitudes.
A primary objective of the LAICE
mission is to globally map such
active wave regions, and to
correlate waves measured in-
situ with mesospheric airglow
wave measurements.
The in-situ instruments must
therefore measure density
fluctuations in both the ion and
neutral gases, with spatial
resolution that allows
wavelengths of several hundred
km to be resolved.

9. Science Traceability Matrix
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Measurement Requirements Instrument Requirements Mission Requirements
1. Measure neutral pressure
fluctuations with 20 km
spatial resolution to study
gravity wave signatures in the
lower thermosphere.
Neutral Gas Instruments
Dynamic range: 10-8 to 10-4 Torr
Temporal Resolution: < 2.5 s
Current range: 100 pA to 50 mA
Sensitivity: 50 pA
6U S/C with 3-axis stabilization
S/C velocity aligned with normal to
RPA aperture plane to within ±10°
Photometer array aligned with nadir
to within ±10°
S/C angular pitch, yaw,
roll rates < 0.05°/sec
S/C pointing knowledge to within ±5°
S/C inclination ranging from 40-60°
S/C initial orbit altitude between 350-
450 km
Downlink ~100 Mbits/day
Lifetime > 6 months
2. Measure thermal
characteristics of the ion
plasma with 20 km spatial
resolution to identify
coupling regions, and
correlate ion and neutral
fluctuations due to waves.
Plasma RPA Instrument
Dynamic range: 1000 to 5x106 ions/cm3, 50
Kelvin, 10% for light/heavy ion composition
ratio, 10 m/s for ion velocity
Temporal Resolution: < 2.0 s/sweep
Current range: 500 pA to 5 A
Sensitivity: 1000 ions/cm3, 50 K, 10% ion
composition, 10 m/s
3. Measure nighttime airglow
brightness variations
corresponding to wave
signatures in the upper
mesosphere with 10 km
spatial resolution to identify
wave amplitudes, orientation,
horizontal and vertical
wavelengths.
Photometer Array
Dynamic range: 0.1-20kR (O2 A, HI
channels), up to 100kR (O2 bg channel)
Temporal Resolution: <1.3 sec IT
Spatial Resolution: <15km dia. footprint
Sensitivity: >50 S/N (O2 A, HI channels)

10. Experiment Team Supporters
Contributors