Instruments
ELFIN’S PRIMARY PAYLOAD CONSISTS OF A FLUXGATE MAGNETOMETER AND TWO ENERGETIC PARTICLE DETECTORS, DEVELOPED IN-HOUSE BY UCLA STAFF MEMBERS IN THE EARTH, PLANETARY, AND SPACE SCIENCES DEPARTMENT.
Energetic Particle Detector
EPD Extended Front End and EI Mate
Flight Model EPD Fit Check
ELFIN will be flying two energetic particle detectors (EPDs). It has one EPD for ions (EPD-I) and one for electrons (EPD-E). The EPD-E is designed to handle energy in the ranges of 50keV to 4.5MeV while the EPD-I is designed for 50 to 300keV.
Both of these sensors are designed to have a field of view narrower than the loss cone. As a result, ELFIN will be the first mission to provide pitch-angle resolved, high-energy measurements of relativistic electron fluxes from within the loss cone. No other mission has taken this particular view of the radiation belts and this puts ELFIN in a position to deliver unique science to the community.
Both the EPD-E and the EPD-I are being developed in-house at UCLA by staff working in the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) as well as the Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences (EPSS) department.
Additionally, UCLA produced similar versions of these instruments that are currently in orbit on Moscow State University’s Lomonosov satellite. The instrument package provided by UCLA is nearly identical to the one that will ultimately fly on the ELFIN CubeSat. The instruments have been delivered and are awaiting launch with the Lomonosov satellite.
More information about this collaboration is available at the ELFIN-Lomonsosov website.
Fluxgate Magnetometer
The two bare fluxgate sensors, which use coils of wire to precisely detect magnetic fields.
Aysen Tan and Ethan Tsai holding the two fluxgate magnetometers and their electronics delivered for flight
Similarly to the EPDs, the Fluxgate Magnetometer is being developed in-house at UCLA by staff working in the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) as well as the Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences (EPSS) department. The development staff for the ELFIN Fluxgate Magnetometer have also worked previously on many ground magnetometers built by UCLA and distributed in collaboration with organizations around the world. Please see the UCLA ground magnetometer page for more information.
ELFIN will also be flying a Switching Instrument Power Supply (SIPS) and an Instrument Data Processing Unit (IDPU) which support the primary instruments in their operation. Students are extensively involved in the design and layout for these instrument boards.