MidSTAR-1
MidSTAR is intended to be a relatively low-cost, quick response platform accommodating small payloads approved by the DoD Space Experiments Review Board (SERB) and awaiting launch through STP.
MidSTAR is designed for use on the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Ring developed by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for placement on Delta IV or Atlas V expendable launch vehicles.
MidSTAR is a Class D spacecraft, produced at minimum cost with a correspondingly higher technical risk in production and operation.
It is intentionally simple in design and rugged in construction, using commercial off-the-shelf “plug-and-play” components to the greatest extent possible.
In addition, MidSTAR-1 carries the Nano Chem Sensor Unit (NCSU) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center; Eclipse, built by Eclipse Energy Systems, Inc. for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC); and the Micro Dosimeter Instrument (MiDN), sponsored by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) and built by the USNA Department of Aerospace Engineering.
By utilizing a Gaussian Mean Shift Key modulation, communications with the satellite are achieved at 68.4 kbit/s or higher data rate.
[citation needed] 9 March 2007: MidSTAR-1 flew as part of the STP-1 mission on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
[citation needed] 21 March 2007: CFTP turned on at 2217 UTC to add 6 W continuous to the electrical power system load and thus lessen charging stress on the batteries.
Telemetry indicates that normal operation resumed, but all experiments were left off pending post-event analysis and the development of a plan to bring them back online.
[2] The MidSTAR-1 frame is an octagonal structure 32.5" along the long axis, including separation system, and 21.2"x21.2" measured side-to-side in cross-section.
These can be varied in future implementations of the MidSTAR model, if necessary, as long as the structure remains within the center of gravity requirements.
The flight computer is designed to control the satellite and manage telemetry and experiment data for a minimum of two years.
The C&DH system consists of a custom-modified MIP405-3X single board computer which included (i) 133 MHz PowerPC processor; (ii) 128 MB ECC; (iii) 4 RS-232 asynchronous serial ports; (iv) 1 Ethernet Port; (v) a PC/104 bus; (vi) a PC/104+ bus; and, (vi) a 202-D384-X Disc on Chip providing 384 MB of secondary storage.
The choice was limited to x86, PowerPC, and ARM processor architectures because of a program decision to use the Linux operating system.
The MIP405 integrates Ethernet, serial ports, and Disk-on-Chip interface on a single board while providing 128 MB of ECC memory and a powerful processor for under 2 watts.
[citation needed] The M-Systems Disk-on-Chip was chosen because it was the de facto standard flash memory harddisk replacement.
The 384 MB version was chosen to provide the storage required for the operating system and still maintain adequate margin.
The Diamond Systems Emerald-MM-8 was chosen for the asynchronous serial board based on its innate flexibility with any of the 8 ports capable of being configured as RS-232, RS-422, RS-485.
To create an open software architecture the IP protocol stack was chosen to provide inter process, intra-satellite, and satellite-ground communications.
