SCATTER concept selected by NASA for study
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has selected Professor Close's proposal for Phase I study, one of 16 total awardees. Entitled Sustained CubeSat Activity Through Transmitted Electromagnetic Radiation (SCATTER), the project would study the capability for a parent spacecraft to transmit power and remotely manipulate a small probe spacecraft through a laser transmitter, This capability enables the mothership to intermittently deploy probes during a long-duration deep space mission to Uranus where the use of only PV and battery power sources would be infeasible. Using these probes allows a single mission to provide enhanced scientific measurements such as magnetic field gradients, leading to a better understanding of the ice giants, which are the least explored planets in our solar system.
Rendering of SCATTER concept shows the mothership controlling the trajectory of a ChipSat with a laser. Multiple ChipSats could be deployed around Uranus to collect magnetic field data.
