- Missions
- Family overview
- Awards
- On-board science data processing achievements
- References
- External links
{{for|free-flying cube satellites|CubeSat}}{{Double image|right|STS-125_FD9_Release.jpg|200|MISSE-7 STS129.jpg|200|The Hubble Space Telescope being lifted out of the payload bay of Atlantis before being released back into space.|SpaceCube aboard MISSE-7}}SpaceCube is a family of high-performance reconfigurable systems designed{{When|date=February 2011}} for spaceflight applications requiring on-board processing. The SpaceCube was developed by engineers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.[1] The SpaceCube 1.0 system is based on Xilinx's Virtex-4 commercial FPGAs. The debut mission of the SpaceCube 1.0, Hubble Servicing Mission 4, was the first time Xilinx's Virtex-4 FPGAs flew in space.[2] Missions - Hubble Servicing Mission 4: The SpaceCube was the brains of the Relative Navigation Sensors autonomous docking experiment that was intended to run in parallel with the astronaut controlled docking of the Hubble Space Telescope.[3] RNS met its stated goals.[4]
- MISSE-7: The SpaceCube was attached to the outside of the ISS during an EVA on Space Shuttle Mission STS-129 (Nov 2009). It provides an on-orbit test platform for demonstrating innovative radiation hardened by software techniques. It is mounted on the NRL's MISSE7 experiment which is attach to an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier.[5][6]
Family overview - SpaceCube 1.0: Based on Xilinx's Virtex-4 commercial FPGAs.
- SpaceCube 1.5: Intermediate version of SpaceCube 2.0. Based on Xilinx's Virtex-5 commercial FPGAs. Scheduled to fly on sounding rocket flight in the fall of 2010.[7]
- SpaceCube 2.0: Currently{{When|date=February 2011}} under development with over $1 million in funding.[7] The SpaceCube 2.0 system is based around Xilinx's new radiation-hardened Virtex-5 FPGA.[7][8]{{update after|2011|02|04}}
Awards NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center SpaceCube team earned an honorable mention for the 2009 "IRAD Innovator of the Year" award.[9] On-board science data processing achievements - Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) results:
- 6 to 1 loss-less data volume reduction on SAR Nadir Altimetry dataset.[10]
- 165x data volume reduction on SAR mapping dataset.[10]
References 1. ^{{Cite web|url=http://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/2006_AR_V6_FINAL_low.pdf|title=NASA Goddard Space Flight Center FY 2006 Internal Research and Development Program|publisher=NASA Goddard Space Flight Center|year=2006|author=Office of the Chief Technologist}}
2. ^{{Cite web|url=http://newsletter.xilinx.com/emails/12-2008.html|title=Xilinx December 2008 Newsletter|publisher=Xilinx|year=2008}}
3. ^{{Cite web|url=http://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/SpaceCube.htm|title=SpaceCube to Debut in Flight Demonstration: Hybrid Computer to Fly on Hubble Servicing Mission|publisher=NASA Goddard Space Flight Center|year=2008|author=Office of the Chief Technologist}}
4. ^[https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20100014897.pdf Flight Results of the HST SM4 Relative Navigation Sensor System]
5. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/MISSE-7.html|title=Materials International Space Station Experiment - 7 (MISSE-7)|publisher=NASA|year=2009|author=ISS Program Scientist's Office|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210181244/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/MISSE-7.html|archivedate=2008-12-10|df=}}
6. ^[https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/sets/72157622869997440/ Astronauts Install SpaceCube on International Space Station]
7. ^1 2 {{Cite web|url=http://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/newsletter/Spring_2009_TT_lowres.pdf|title=Goddard Tech Trends Spring 2009|publisher=Goddard Space Flight Center|year=2009|volume=5|issue=3|author=Office of the Chief Technologist}}
8. ^{{Cite web|url=http://defense-update.com/products/v/Virtex-5.htm|title=Rad-Hard Virtex-5|publisher=Defense Update}}
9. ^{{Cite web|url=http://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/2009InnOfYear.htm|title=Goddard 2009 IRAD Innovator of the Year award|publisher=Goddard Space Flight Center|year=2009}}
10. ^1 {{Cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=282219&id=141354918547|title=SpaceCube On-Board SAR Data Processing Results|publisher=Goddard Space Flight Center|year=2010}}
External links - PowerPC405 MIPS Study
- Goddard Space Flight Center technologies site
- SpaceCube on Facebook
- A pose and position measurement system for the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission
- Relative Navigation
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090802231520/http://technology.gsfc.nasa.gov/newsletter/Summer_2008_Tec_FINAL.pdf Summer 2008 Goddard Tech Trends]
- MAPLD 2009 RNS SpaceCube
- MAPLD 2009 SpaceCube Activities
- RHBD Xilinx Virtex-5
- Heavy ion SEE test of Xilinx Virtex4 XC4VFX60 FPGA
- SpaceCube Virtex-4 FPGA qualification methodology
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100527184709/http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/newsletter/TechNews_HST-Spring09.pdf Spring 2009 Goddard News Tech Transfer]
- Xilinx XCell Journal Customer Innovation Issue
- Media
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/tags/spacecube/ SpaceCube Photo Gallery on Flickr]
- MISSE-7 SpaceCube development team
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608081205/http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/imageviewer.cfm?mediaid=44205&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-6278&sn=KSC-2009-6278 SpaceCube in Atlantis Shuttle bay](The SpaceCube is mounted on the MISSE-7 ExPA on ELC-2 on the bottom right.)
- SpaceCube mounted to MISSE7's ExPA(The SpaceCube is the smaller box with several connectors on top)
- Naval Research Lab's MISSE-7 Press Release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spacecube}} 3 : Hubble Space Telescope|Goddard Space Flight Center|Satellite buses |