A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research.

Area of Science:

• Planetary Science
• Astrophysics
• Space Engineering

Background:

• Milligravity environments (<1/1000 Earth's gravity) on asteroids, comets, and small moons exhibit unique directional gravity.
• Unlike microgravity, milligravity creates familiar geologic textures and landforms over time.
• Research in milligravity has implications for planetary science, asteroid defense, resource utilization, human spaceflight, biomedicine, and manufacturing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for a low-cost, long-duration research strategy for milligravity environments.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of simulating asteroid surface conditions using a cubesat.
• To enable flight-testing of landing and mobility technologies in a realistic operational environment.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a commodity 3U cubesat containing a loose materials laboratory.
• Spinning the cubesat on its long axis at 1 r.p.m. to generate centrifugal forces equivalent to kilometer-sized asteroid surface gravity.
• Conducting a first flight demonstration with meteorite fragments to create regolith.

Main Results:

• Successful simulation of milligravity conditions using a spinning cubesat.
• Formation of a patch of real regolith from meteorite fragments under simulated asteroid conditions.
• Demonstration of a viable low-cost approach for long-duration milligravity research.

Conclusions:

• The proposed cubesat strategy offers simplified access to long-duration milligravity research.
• This approach can advance fundamental planetary science and applied space technologies.
• The 3U design is adaptable for variable gravity experiments on the International Space Station.